Evette, Wilson head to runoff in primary for SC governor, CBS News projects

Pamela Evette and Alan Wilson are heading to a runoff in South Carolina’s Republican primary for governor after none of the six candidates in the primary reached the required majority threshold of votes to avoid a runoff. The runoff election will be June 23. 

Evette is South Carolina’s current lieutenant governor and had President Trump’s backing. Alan Wilson has been South Carolina’s attorney general for over 15 years.

The South Carolina GOP gubernatorial race was one of the widest open  primaries in the country, with there being no clear frontrunner  heading into Tuesday night. 

Candidates knocked out of the race include GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, who has had some disagreements with Mr. Trump in the past. She condemned Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, and he endorsed a primary challenger in her House reelection race in 2022, but she prevailed in that race. Although she and Mr. Trump had warmer interactions afterward, Mace was instrumental in the House push to release the Epstein files. 

Mr. Trump snubbed Mace by endorsing Pamela Evette shortly before the primary. 

In a post on social media on Tuesday night, Mace said “as a survivor, I chose to stand on principle and stand against the Epstein cover-up.”

“And apparently, I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election,” Mace added. 

During early voting, the president called Evette a “good friend, fighter, and WINNER.” The president’s endorsement echoed term-limited South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, who is also backing Evette. 

South Carolina state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and former business executive Rom Reddy also lost out on primary night. 

South Carolina hasn’t had a Democratic governor since Gov. Jim Hodges, who left office in 2003, and Mr. Trump Trump won the state with 58% of the vote in 2024, making the Republican candidate the favorite to win in November.