President Donald Trump’s double endorsement in the South Carolina governor’s race paid off, with the state’s attorney general, Alan Wilson, cruising to victory in Tuesday night’s Republican runoff.
The Associated Press called the race at 7:26 p.m. ET, less than 30 minutes after the polls closed, with Wilson leading by around 30 points.
He was on the ballot against the Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette to replace the term-limited Republican Governor Henry McMaster, who had backed her.
Trump had initially endorsed Evette in late May, based on the fact that she was the only Republican running who had backed his 2024 presidential campaign from the beginning.
But on Friday, as Wilson looked poised to win, Trump decided to endorse both Evette and Wilson to save face.
Wilson is a known quantity in the state; he’s the longest-serving attorney general in South Carolina history, holding the position since 2011.
He’s also the adopted son of Representative Joe Wilson, who married the attorney general’s mother after his father was killed in a helicopter training accident upon returning from Vietnam.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson was the second Republican gubernatorial candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump after the President initially endorsed the state’s Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette
South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette had been endorsed by President Donald Trump in May, but when polls indicated she looked poised to lose her runoff race Trump endorsed her rival, Attorney General Alan Wilson, too
Trump’s dual endorsement came just days after voters in Georgia defied his endorsement and chose billionaire Rick Jackson over the Trump-backed Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones in the governor’s race there.
Donald Trump Jr had read the tea leaves before the Georgia runoff and stated that a win for Jackson would also be a victory for MAGA.
Earlier this month, voters in Iowa also defied Trump in the governor’s race, choosing Zach Lahn, who’s associated with the Make America Healthy Again movement, over the President’s hand-picked candidate, Randy Feenstra.
To avoid a hat trick of losses, Trump gave his ‘Complete and Total Endorsement’ to both Evette and Wilson.
‘With either one you can’t go wrong,’ Trump said.
Since the initial June 9 primary, where Evette captured 28.9 percent and Wilson received 26.1 percent of the vote, two of the other candidates running for governor had pledged their support to Wilson.
That included Representative Nancy Mace, who came in fifth place on primary night, earning just 12.1 percent of the vote.
Mace and Trump have a historically rocky and complicated relationship and by the time she ran for governor, she was again on the outs with the President, partially because of her push to release the Epstein files.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Alan Wilson’s signs show his fresh endorsement from President Donald Trump, which came Friday, when the President decided to endorse both GOP candidates in South Carolina’s runoff
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was among the Republicans with a national profile to endorse South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s campaign for governor. Cruz appeared at a campaign stop Monday in Columbia
Her loss earlier this month represented another win for the President on his revenge tour, as he seeks to cleanse the Republican Party of critics.
Representative Ralph Norman, an early backer of former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential run against Trump, came in third place in the primary with 17.1 percent of the vote.
Norman endorsed Wilson last week, calling him a ‘battle-tested conservative’ who would represent change from the current McMaster administration, a clear dig at Evette.
Rom Reddy, a businessman new to politics who was the primary’s fourth-place finisher, declined to endorse in Tuesday’s runoff.
In the days leading up to the runoff election, polling showed Wilson with a sizable advantage – suggesting Norman and Mace’s voter base had moved to the attorney general.
He also benefited from endorsements from South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, both of whom have national profiles.
And then finally, there was the stamp of approval from Trump.
An Insider Advantage survey conducted June 19-20 found 61 percent of likely voters backing Wilson and just 29 percent supporting Evette, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percent.
Attorney General Alan Wilson, candidate for South Carolina governor, votes in the runoff race on Tueday at a polling place in Lexington, South Carolina alongside his daughter. He’s the adopted son of Representative Joe Wilson
‘I think voters are responding to a positive campaign and what we believe is an unbeatable grassroots and get-out-the-vote operation,’ Wilson’s communications director Woods Wooten told the Daily Mail before the polls closed on Tuesday.
‘While other candidates in this race focused on negative attacks, we’ve focused on building a broad coalition and reaching voters in every corner of South Carolina,’ Wooten added.
South Carolina Democrats chose Jermaine Johnson in the primary earlier this month, and no runoff was needed.
The state last elected a Democratic governor in 1998, with the election of Governor Jim Hodges.
