State Attorney General Alan Wilson captured the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a runoff the Associated Press called 26 minutes after polls closed. President Donald Trump had endorsed both candidates — an 11th-hour hedge that made Tuesday a no-loss outcome for the president while handing Wilson a commanding platform heading into November.
The Double Endorsement, Explained
Trump backed Evette late last month, a week and a half before the June 9 gubernatorial primary, which Evette won atop a field that included Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman and businessman Rom Reddy. Wilson finished second, advancing to the runoff. Then on Friday, Trump added Wilson to his endorsement list — prompting Mace, who had since backed Wilson herself, to post "LMAO" on social media.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas had already endorsed Wilson a week before Trump's second endorsement. Wilson campaigned on his record as a combat veteran, prosecutor, and state attorney general. Evette presented herself as a Trump-endorsed businesswoman and outsider, drawing a contrast with Wilson as a career politician.
November Outlook
South Carolina has not elected a Democratic governor in 28 years. Wilson is now the strong favorite in the general election against Democratic nominee Jermaine Johnson, a state representative, to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.
Trump's Endorsement Ledger Heading Into the Midterms
Tuesday's result is a data point in a GOP primary season that has stressed-tested the reach of Trump's endorsement power.
- His candidates ousted incumbents in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas.
- The streak broke three weeks ago: Rep. Randy Feenstra lost Iowa's GOP gubernatorial primary to businessman Zach Lahn, backed by the MAHA movement aligned with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Turning Point USA.
- Last week, Trump-backed Rep. Barry Moore won Alabama's Republican Senate runoff over former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson. In Georgia, an 11th-hour Trump endorsement helped Rep. Mike Collins defeat former college football coach Derek Dooley in the GOP Senate runoff. Collins faces Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a race widely seen as pivotal to whether Republicans hold their slim Senate majority.
- The Georgia gubernatorial runoff delivered a setback: Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who also drew an endorsement from Gov. Brian Kemp, lost to Rick Jackson. A Trump political operative told Fox News Digital that Jackson "set a record for spending in a statewide Republican primary" and that Jackson's campaign was built around Trump alignment, making the result "not really a referendum on Trump."
The South Carolina double-endorsement insulated Trump from another Iowa-style headline — but the Georgia gubernatorial loss, stacked against the Feenstra defeat, adds texture to a record that is dominant but not unblemished as the 2026 midterm map takes shape.