♪ > Welcome to a This Week in South Carolina special report I'm Gavin Jackson.

This week we look at the final days of the 2026 Republican primary runoff race for the gubernatorial nomination between Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson, and what it took for Wilson to secure the nomination Tuesday night.

After besting the four other Republicans on June 9th, Wilson and Evette took stock, worked the phones, hit the trail, and geared up for the two week push after Evette got 29 percent of the vote, and Wilson got 26 percent.

We spoke with both of them last week, including on the trail with Wilson, who continued holding meet and greets in small retail stops like at Nichols Outdoor Store in Rock Hill, where he fielded questions from folks, and then a meet and greet at Black's Peach Farm in the growing city of York, where 50 people turned out.

The area is in the heart of Congressman Ralph Norman's fifth Congressional district.

Norman had 17 percent support in the primary and came in third.

He endorsed Wilson on June 15th.

> Over the past several days, I've carefully looked at both candidates.

I've talked with them, and I've considered who is best for the future of our great state of South Carolina.

The person that will cut wasteful spending.

The person that will lower our taxes, fix our roads.

The person who will empower our small businesses, and who are, which are the lifeline of this great state.

And move South Carolina in a more conservative direction, which is definitely what we need.

Today, I'm excited to announce my complete endorsement of Attorney General Alan Wilson.

[applause] Gavin> But former Norman supporters were already heading to the Wilson campaign.

> I supported Ralph Norman, he was our congressman in this area.

He's been a wonderful congressman.

I actually met him in person.

So I was supporting Ralph Norman.

But, as soon as, you know, as soon as we found out who was in the runoff, I immediately supported Alan Wilson for the Governor.

I think what it comes down to, you know, they're both solid Republicans, very conservative.

I think he's a little bit more conservative than she is.

I know his track record from being the Attorney General for so long.

I know where he comes from, I know his dad's track record.

So I think it's just that family relationship and that long term relationship and watching him go through his career in politics.

> We're a red state, act like it.

Okay, that's all.

We want everybody to have great things and do well, but we have conservative values.

So yeah, I think he'll be probably one of the most conservative governors we've had in a long time.

He's just a little bit under Ralph Norman when it comes to conservatism.

I didn't hit him on the casino.

I'm definitely against casinos.

Oh, he's against it, too.

I am not for medical marijuana either.

Gavin> Things got heated during the runoff debate over in the Grand Strand on June 16th at Coastal Carolina University.

Only the second of five debates that the Lieutenant Governor participated in this cycle.

> So first off, there's two separate issues here.

Obviously, tax dollars going to institutions of higher learning that suppress conservative speech through the institutions, through the faculty, through the administration.

Absolutely, I would be for not giving them tax dollars, but I would never support taking tax dollars because a bunch of kids who didn't like me or didn't like my politics protested on a campus.

If we're going to be conservative, if we're going to be conservative to protect conservative speech, then we should be conservative in protecting all speech, even speech that which we don't agree with.

Lieutenant Governor, I mean, I was obviously and honestly disappointed.

Not you know, I was really disappointed that you were getting down in the mud mixing up with college kids.

A governor has to rise above it.

A governor has to be the governor for all people.

Yes, we can oppose suppressing conservative speech on campuses, but stripping kids of money because they don't like you or disinvited you, that's not what a governor is supposed to do.

We can do better than that.

And as governor, I will be a governor for all people.

And we will protect conservative speech.

But we will also protect speech we don't agree with.

Moderator> Attorney General, Thank you.

[applause] Lieutenant Governor, you were mentioned, you have 30 seconds.

L.G.

Evette> Well, obviously the Attorney General missed the whole point.

Free speech is speech for all, but the only speech is being stopped on college campuses is conservative speech.

[applause] And I really think what the Attorney General is upset with, is probably the hundreds of thousands of dollars he's spent trying to lie to the voters that I was somehow a DEI queen was squelched in 30 seconds with those students at S.C.

State.

[cheers and boos] Moderator> Lieutenant Governor, thank you.

Attorney General, you have 30 seconds.

A.G.

Wilson> There she's going, she's lying again, folks.

It's just more of the same.

I mean, first off, Pam, we have the receipts and we can put it out on the internet, it's there.

Your company did sell DEI products before you became Lieutenant Governor.

It's something you did.

And, Pam, you keep misrepresenting the truth.

You've lied time and time again.

You actually sent out a flier to thousands, tens hundreds of thousands of people saying that you signed constitutional carry into law to protect the Second Amendment.

Did you sign a bill into law, Lieutenant Governor Evette?

I mean, please answer that for the people.

I'll give you the next couple seconds, go!

<Oh my goodness.> Moderator> Lieutenant Governor.

Lieutenant Governor, you have 30 seconds for your response.

L.G.

Evette> Yes.

Well, I owned a payroll HR company.

So while I was trying to keep my clients from getting fined from horrible regulations that were coming out of D.C., that's what I did.

So as I was out there protecting small and medium sized businesses and running my own, if the Attorney General was really so upset with DEI, he should have been trying to fight it from his office and not letting it impact the small businesses, here in South Carolina.

[cheers and boos] Moderator> Attorney General, you have another 30 seconds.

[cheers and boos] [laughter] We're going to reset the time.

You have 30 seconds, starting now.

A.G.

Wilson> No, thank you so much.

First off, Pam, look, I understand you're trying to run from your record from your time as CEO of your company.

You did sell DEI products.

You have lied about your record.

[boos] You've lied about- You never answered the question.

Did you sign a bill into law?

You also said that you personally, you single handedly kept sanctuary cities out of South Carolina, and you personally kept men out of women's sports.

I'm the one in the lawsuit right now protecting that.

Again, are you going to answer the question?

Did you sign a bill into law?

And did you personally keep sanctuary cities out of South Carolina?

Moderator> Attorney General, thank you.

Lieutenant Governor, we'll reset the time, you have 15 seconds, final word, we need to move on.

You have 15 seconds.

L.G.

Evette> First of all, I said it was the people of Charleston that kicked out a sanctuary city sheriff.

That's what I said.

<That's not what you said on Friday.> The Governor and I together are a team.

I understand you don't get that, but we are.

So when that was signed into law, it was signed in by the McMaster Evette administration.

So stop lying to these people.

I'm surprised you even know what DEI is, never spending a day in business.

Gavin> SCGOP Chairman Drew McKissick said that the intensity of the debate and the entire cycle is what primary voters want.

Though the crowd was very rowdy.

> Everything that I've seen, whether it's online activity, the phone calls I'm getting, the grassroots people I talk to, it's all excitement, enthusiasm, very energized, very interested.

And that's good for us in the long run.

It's a little bit different in terms of the fact that when it did come, candidates had already been campaigning for so long.

Again, as I pointed out, they've been going since football season.

So when you've got five campaigns, hitting it for eight months and then you had one that come in at the last minute with a self-funder putting a lot of money into the race.

People get dug into their positions.

They've been volunteering, helping, donating, these candidates for a long time.

So it's not like they were all sitting around and waiting for, you know, an endorsement necessarily.

Not that the President's endorsement obviously matters, but the later it comes in the process, the more dug in people can get in their positions.

You know, years ago, famous, you know, former National Party chairman, political consultant, Lee Atwater, he used to say, "issues win campaigns," well that's because people care about issues, they get engaged because of issues.

They'll donate money or they'll knock doors because of issues.

When the candidates talk about that right set of issues that enthuse and engage people, that's what pulls the turnout.

Gavin> Things were a bit more civilized at the Greenville Club on June 19th, at a breakfast sponsored by the Fourth District Republican Club and the Family Caucus.

Some 175 people came out not just to have breakfast and to hear from the gubernatorial candidates, but to hear from other statewide candidates in the runoff.

Wilson and Evette made familiar pitches.

L.G.

Evette> Over the eight years that I've had with him.

Right.

We've given the largest single income tax cuts in the state's history.

When I'm the next governor, I'll keep that momentum moving forward and I'll eliminate your state income tax.

Cause you see, I'm an accountant by trade, and an entrepreneur at heart.

And we don't kick the can down the road or let somebody else do it or solve the problem later on.

We take care of it ourselves.

> Put all the endorsements aside.

Who do you think is gonna be the person who's gonna lead us into the future?

Who do you think is the person that's been battle tested?

Who's the person that you think is going to be able to inspire, influence, connect with voters of South Carolina.

I submit to you, I believe that is me.

Ladies and gentlemen, everything that I do, my True North will be about making our state more affordable for your family.

Making our economy more profitable for your business.

Making our government more accountable to you.

Gavin> Nate Leupp, who is neutral in the primary, said the campaign has been a pressure cooker.

> I thought there was kind of two different aspects of this campaign cycle, especially for the gubernatorial race.

You had when there were six candidates, and that was a very different race than the runoff, where we have two candidates.

So getting to that part where we know who the 50/50 chance of becoming the governor are, is important.

Then voters can get a little bit more serious.

And, really it's put in front of them.

You have A or B, and taking those other four off the table was important.

I think it's a win-win for the party.

Both of them are great options.

I could easily cast a vote for either.

I think it's just gonna to come down to small things that resonate with the individual voters, whether they like Lieutenant Governor's business background, whether they like the Attorney General's tough stance on crime and supporting our law enforcement.

So it's just going to come down to little things, I think, on Tuesday.

Gavin> But that wasn't the only forum on Friday in the conservative upstate.

Over in Pendleton, the two were set to meet again that evening.

But in between the two forums, Attorney General Wilson got a major endorsement from President Donald Trump.

It said in part, "There are two highly respected candidates running to be your next governor.

Both have had amazing careers and have been with me from the beginning.

They are MAGA and America First all the way!

These were the two that I was hoping would get into a runoff, and they did.

I can't hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so, therefore I am going to endorse for Governor of South Carolina both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson!

It's a wealth of riches.

With either one, you can't go wrong.

Vote for Pam or Allen.

They will not let you down!"

The dual endorsement came three weeks after Trump endorsed Evette.

dealing her campaign a major blow with days left.

> My goodness, you know, the Governor has been amazing.

It's been wonderful to have his support.

And then the President is the President, I mean, I'll tell you, after he called me to give me his endorsement, I mean, I woke up that next day, wondering if I dreamed it all, right, because it's just overwhelming to have somebody as successful as him that is so passionate about America First, the American people, American business, American farmers, stand behind you.

Gavin> We were with Wilson at the "Smokin' Pig" barbecue restaurant in Pendleton Friday evening, moments after he got word of the endorsement.

> First off, I'm incredibly honored to have President Trump's endorsement.

I mean, wow, I didn't see it coming.

I'm so grateful.

I literally just found out about 15 minutes ago.

And the President's office reached out to me to give me a heads up that it was coming.

And obviously, a few minutes ago we saw Senator Tim Scott endorse me.

So this is, it means so much to have the faith and the confidence of so many important people in our country, rallying behind me.

It just means so much.

Gavin> The endorsement of Wilson ensures that Trump gets a win after his gubernatorial picks in primaries in Georgia and Iowa lost.

Evette said the endorsement didn't mean she was set to face the same fate.

L.G.

Evette> Well, you know, I realize that politics is more than just about me and about South Carolina.

And, you know, we have a lot of midterms coming up.

And I understand the President's position.

I always look at the bigger picture.

But I got a personal message from him that said, "Fight, win."

That's exactly what I'm going to do.

Gavin> Inside Faith Fellowship Baptist Church, members of the Anderson and Pickens counties Republican parties gathered to hear the closing arguments from the two.

L.G.

Evette> And if they ask you, "why are you supporting Pamela Evette?"

Say, "because she has a resume to do the job.

She was a successful CEO in the private sector, and she has sat at the right hand of the Governor for eight years."

I know what it's like to be governor.

I know where we are in government.

I know what we need to fix and change, and I know how to do it.

A.G.

Wilson> And so no matter what happens on Tuesday, my feet are on the ground because my priorities are right.

Now, as your governor, I promise to you, and I commit to you to be a fighter.

I've often said that, you know, "when we watch football games, we get frustrated when we see our team playing not to lose a game, when we want them to win a game."

Okay?

Sometimes I see government doing that, embracing the status quo because we're afraid to fail.

I commit to you as your governor that I will always fight for you.

I will always put you first.

There were so many issues out there that I want to do, but I feel like we have embraced the status quo because we're afraid of the unknown.

And I commit to you today, that if you give me a chance to serve you, we're going to do things we have never done before.

Just give me that opportunity.

Gavin> The candidates were both in the Lowcountry on Saturday, and Wilson on Monday got a big jolt of energy from Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who not only endorsed him days after the June 9th primary, but was with him on the eve of the runoff election day in Sumter and in Columbia at "Doc's Barbecue," where hundreds enjoyed some pulled pork and packed the house.

> Why is it that people are fleeing big blue states and coming to red states like South Carolina?

There are a lot of reasons, but the number one reason is for the jobs.

And Alan is going to fight, and for safety and not having like, you know, your kids, friends and all sorts of, you know, not being nuts.

Those are all helpful.

But jobs, you have jobs when you have a common sense conservative governor who's going to limit taxes and reduce jobs killing regulations and that's what Alan Wilson will do.

So tomorrow, on Election Day, I want to ask every one of you, come out and vote for Alan for a strong conservative governor.

[applause] And I will say, this campaign has enormous momentum right now, including President Donald J. Trump endorsing Alan Wilson.

[applause] And with that, I give you the next governor of the great State of South Carolina.

[applause] [applause] A.G.

Wilson> Thank you.

Gavin> Cruz's Truth and Courage PAC also threw 250,000 dollars behind Wilson in advertising in the upstate and the Senator said he seeks out the most conservative folks to endorse.

And this had nothing to do with picking candidates opposite of Trump, like in this race and in Georgia.

Sen.

Cruz> Look, I try to make an assessment in every race, looking at the record of a candidate who is a proven conservative, who has a real record of standing and fighting for conservative positions, and then also who has a path to victory.

This at the end of the day, is not a parlor game.

This is about saving our country.

This is about, preserving freedom.

And so, I tend to get involved in races late, because I want to get involved in races where my support can make a difference and help a strong conservative hopefully surge ahead and win the race.

And I hope that it plays a helpful role here as well.

Gavin> Wilson was voting alongside his wife, daughter, and son Tuesday morning, and it marked the second time his son was able to vote.

And the day also marked a full year on the campaign trail.

This is what he said about when he saw things shift for his campaign.

> We started seeing, our numbers and our campaign, started to see me close the gap and take surge, probably within a few days after the primary.

You know, probably Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of that week, we started to really feel the surge.

I'd already started to see the gap closing leading up to the primary.

And then of course, we were probably, you know, doing really well.

And then all of a sudden, we started to have a lot of good fortune.

I mean, obviously, Ralph Norman, who came out and supported me the Monday after the election.

I'm incredibly grateful to Congressman Norman, his family and, you know, all of his supporters, they seem to be rallying around us.

Obviously, Nancy Mace did that first night.

And, you know, what I tell people is Meg asked the question, can people coalesce around you, with such a bruising primary, you go back a year and Ms.

Mace and I, were not getting along, you know, to put it politely.

But, we've come to an understanding.

We were able to build a bridge and not only become cordial, but to actually become incredibly friendly.

And I was incredibly grateful for her to kind of set the example.

No one saw it coming.

That she came right out the gate and supported me.

So, that has been kind of like a big thing to me.

I think that is where I started to separate myself when people started seeing, this is the guy that can bring factions of our party together.

And I think that's what probably started the surge, snowballing.

Then, of course, the President and then Senator Scott.

And then we had Senator Cruz here yesterday.

So there's just this feeling of energy.

And I will also say this, Gavin, I also noticed when I walked into restaurants when I was walking through Walmart, when I'd go to small drop-ins, the crowds were getting a little bit bigger.

More and more people were walking up to me.

That had never happened before.

And I'm like, "Okay, the voters are starting to pay attention."

And that is when I started to feel the energy and the momentum grow.

Gavin> Polls closed at 7 p.m.

and Wilson was declared winner not too long after.

A.G.

Wilson> Ladies and gentlemen, I aspire not to be a transitional governor, but to be a transformational governor.

[applause] People are skeptical.

So many people across the state of South Carolina are skeptical about their government.

They've become cynical.

They're tired of the status quo.

They're tired of elected officials just saying whatever they can say to get elected.

But folks, I'm telling you that that is over.

Here's what we're gonna do.

Three things, I'm gonna do a bunch of things, but three things I want to highlight for you.

We're gonna launch the Families First Audit Initiative.

That's our version of DOGE.

That's a complete top-bottom audit of all state government agencies.

We're going to allow for public comment.

We're going to let you take your government back.

And then we're going to lay out a roadmap for real reform to make government more efficient, more accountable, more receptive, and better all around.

And that's gonna start with the Families First Audit Initiative, that Mike Reichenbach is going to lead.

[applause] We're gonna prioritize infrastructure.

We're going to fix our roads and our bridges and expand our energy grid.

We're going to modernize the Department of Transportation.

And finally, let me be very clear.

The era of bad corporate deals that cost taxpayers billions of dollars are over.

[applause] Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it on the video, I think Mike might have even referenced it and I've been consistent in every speech.

I've told you that my North Star, my True North, in everything that I seek to do, when I wake up in the morning, when I go to bed at night, these will be the thoughts going through my head.

Mike and I have committed to doing this as Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

Our number one goal will be to make living in our state more affordable for your families.

[applause] To make our economy more profitable for your businesses.

And to make our government more accountable to you.

[applause] We're gonna fight to eliminate the income tax, reduce your property taxes, DOGE, fraud, waste, and abuse from government, fix our crumbling roads and bridges.

lower our utility rates, promote a kid's first education agenda, reform our judicial selection process, and much, much more.

It is coming, you have my word.

We spoke with Winthrop political science professor Doctor Scott Huffmon Tuesday evening about the twists and turns on the campaign trail during the final days, including that dual endorsement.

This race, basically was over the moment Donald Trump gave the dual endorsement.

That was the, you know, releasing the floodgates, letting people do what they clearly had wanted to do in the first place.

And that was, unfortunately for Pam Evette, support her opponent.

So Alan Wilson really reaped the benefit of that.

Just overwhelmingly, we saw endorsement after endorsement come in for Alan Wilson.

You know, all of the voters, it looks like, who didn't support Pam Evette in the original primary seems to have lined up behind Alan Wilson.

It was dirty.

Definitely every cliche of South Carolina politics, bare knuckle, knife fight, yadda yadda.

But, the real thing that made the difference in the end that just opened the floodgates was that Trump endorsement.

Gavin> What do you make of the power of the endorsement from the president these days, if he's willing to hedge his bets like this?

Dr.

Huffmon> Well, you know, he has done very well in federal races.

He has not done as well in state races.

So, again, you know, when folks, when Republicans say, "Hey, who does Donald Trump want to support him in Washington?"

They listen to Donald Trump.

But it seems like more and more they're saying, "Look, that's the federal I support Donald Trump.

But we need somebody with their eyes focused back home."

And so somebody whose only message and this is not just in South Carolina, somebody whose only message running for a state office is, "Donald Trump is my everything."

They are not getting the nods that you would expect.

So the fact that, Pamela Evette's sails just didn't puff out and just sail her to victory after that endorsement, really showed us that there might be a problem.

And we've already talked about many of the reasons why.

Gavin> You know, we just saw two different messages playing out there from the two candidates with Wilson, with, that congratulatory speech, again, continuing that message of unity, kind of that joyful warrior message we've seen play out on the trail from him.

Like we haven't really heard him go too negative.

Obviously, the debates are a different story, but when he's on the stump and he's talking about his former opponents, he calls them competitors.

He doesn't call them enemies.

He's really trying to get a unifying message.

I won't say it's a moderate tone, but it's different.

I mean, again, it's compared to what I heard from Ted Cruz, that more national message where he's attacking the Democrats.

Obviously, we'll probably start hearing more of that going into November.

But what do you make of his tone and how he's presented himself on the campaign trail throughout the past year?

> He's been more broadly strategic.

Again, it's sort of making sure that he's not alienating key allies.

He did this, along the entire way, knowing especially after Trump endorsed Evette, that he would have to pick up voters from the other candidates.

And if he had spent his time bashing each one of them by name and alienating their voters, he might not have been able to do that.

Now, you know, no one knew that Trump was going to co-endorse him.

So for all he knew, he had to be strategic.

He couldn't go out on the attack against every other candidate.

He did have some of his political action committees to do that for him.

Well he didn't, no coordination certainly.

But several political action committees tied to him, went on the pretty vicious offensive against some of the other candidates, including Ralph Norman.

But, Alan Wilson on the campaign trail made sure not to alienate any of their voters because he thought he might have to pull them in despite not having Trump's endorsement.

And then he gets it at the end and it just becomes an overwhelming victory.

Gavin> The two term Lieutenant Governor gave her concession speech before supporters in Myrtle Beach.

L.G.

Evette> I want to reiterate what I've said all along, this race wasn't about me.

It never has been.

It's been about you.

The people, the taxpayers, the business owners, the families who make our state the best in the world.

This wasn't just a campaign for me.

It was a movement.

A movement built around keeping South Carolina the best place to live, to work, and to raise your family.

And so just a few minutes ago, I called Alan Wilson to congratulate him on his win tonight and to tell him that he has my support as the party's nominee.

I'm committed, and I hope you all join me in doing everything we can to ensure a win in November.

As I see so many familiar faces in the crowd tonight, it's hard for me to feel anything other than intense gratitude for all the incredible people who've stood with me every step of the way.

Gavin> And that's it for us this week.

You can find this report and much more at YouTube.com/@SCETVnews.

For South Carolina ETV, I'm Gavin Jackson, be well South Carolina.

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