{"id":3363,"date":"2026-06-23T04:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T04:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3363"},"modified":"2026-06-23T04:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T04:33:51","slug":"south-carolina-voters-will-choose-between-two-trump-backed-governor-candidates-in-republican-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3363","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina voters will choose between two Trump-backed governor candidates in Republican runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) \u2014 South Carolina voters return to the polls Tuesday to finalize the Republican nominee for governor in a runoff election that has become a bruising grudge match between two of the state\u2019s leading politicians.<\/span><\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump initially endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette over state Attorney General Alan Wilson, and neither candidate came close to securing the majority needed to win the nomination outright in the June 9 primary. But as Wilson seemed to gain momentum heading into the runoff, Trump on Friday said he was endorsing both candidates, throwing a curveball to voters looking to the president for guidance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s endorsement has been the deciding factor in many primaries this year, but not always in governor races, and his choices in Iowa and Georgia fell short this month.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Voters for months have been inundated with television advertising, mailers and billboards in the contest, which began more than a year ago as candidates clamored for attention in South Carolina\u2019s first truly open governor\u2019s race in more than a decade. And with Trump remaining popular in the state \u2014 despite some nationwide wavering over issues including the economy \u2014 proximity to the president has been a campaign feature for all of the Republicans vying for the state\u2019s top office.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wilson and Evette met for a single debate and it was messy<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Just a week before the runoff ended, the contenders faced off in their only debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because each was given time to issue a rebuttal whenever their name was mentioned, the debate\u2019s first half-hour swiftly devolved into a ping-ponging, back-and-forth over allegations of mudslinging and taxpayer-funded salary increases. The audience provided a soundtrack of thunderous jeers and hoots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reporters in the debate hall at Coastal Carolina University noted that people began to leave their seats as the shouts continued \u2014 sometimes drowning out candidates\u2019 responses \u2014 with no intervention from moderators or debate organizers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilson went after Evette for skipping previous debates and accused her of lying about signing legislation that Gov. Henry McMaster had actually inked. Evette, meanwhile, hammered the longtime prosecutor for being a \u201ccareer politician\u201d and reminded voters Trump had backed her, not him, in the primary.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How endorsements stack up in the governor\u2019s race runoff<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

At every turn, in every ad and every mailer, Evette has reminded runoff voters that Trump selected her from the Republican field as his anointed gubernatorial contender. She\u2019s also been endorsed by McMaster, who chose Evette as his running mate in the 2018 and 2022 governor\u2019s races.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately following Trump\u2019s double endorsement on Friday, Wilson began boasting about it, too. Moments after Trump posted on social media about the race, Sen. Tim Scott said he was supporting Wilson, and a person familiar with Scott\u2019s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly about it said the South Carolina Republican had been making calls in support of Wilson, helping raise money and lobbying Trump to back him as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilson has also drawn backing from some of the other contenders who failed to make the runoff, including U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace, as well as state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who ended his bid just before the primary. On Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz, another Wilson backer, came to South Carolina to stump for his bid.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Trump initially picked Evette, but Wilson solicited his support, too<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Competition among Republicans for Trump\u2019s support has seemed more intense than any other facet of the primary campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before Evette received the president\u2019s endorsement before the primary, she frequently featured photos and videos of herself with Trump in campaign materials. Mace and Norman also played up their support for Trump\u2019s policies and legislative priorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilson, who has been South Carolina\u2019s top prosecutor since 2011, has often mentioned the legal cases on which he\u2019s filed briefs supporting the Trump administration. He also traveled to New York City to support Trump as he faced a criminal trial over hush money payments that ended with his conviction.<\/span><\/p>\n

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South Carolina voters are returning to the polls to finalize the Republican nominee for governor in a runoff election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Carolina voters will choose between two Trump-backed governor candidates in Republican runoff - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3363\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Carolina voters will choose between two Trump-backed governor candidates in Republican runoff - 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