An endorsement of both candidates would be the latest example of the president hedging his bets to avoid a fight with conservative activists.
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President Donald Trump, who loves to boast of the win-loss record of his endorsed candidates in Republican primaries, is considering hedging his bet in South Carolina’s governor’s race by potentially endorsing both remaining Republicans.
Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, whom Trump endorsed shortly before the first round of the state’s primary, eked out a first-place finish last week in a crowded field, advancing to a June 23 runoff against Attorney General Alan Wilson.
But people close to the president acknowledged to The Washington Post that despite Trump’s endorsement, the runoff election is too close for comfort. Endorsing both candidates, which Trump has done on several other occasions, isn’t off the table, said one person with knowledge of his thinking. No final decision has been made, and the dynamics of the race could further shift in the coming days as Evette outspends Wilson on television.
The South Carolina primary provides the latest example that Trump’s endorsement alone — while still seen as a critical boost in most Republican primaries — is not always enough to sway conservative activists who are distrustful of his chosen candidate.
Trump recently suffered a loss in Iowa’s gubernatorial primary, where his late-endorsed candidate, Rep. Randy Feenstra, lost earlier this month. After Feenstra’s loss, Trump said he “didn’t have enough information” when he made his endorsement decision. If he had known more, he would have endorsed the winning candidate, Zach Lahn, Trump said.
Earlier this year, Trump faced an uproar from conservative activists in Texas after news broke of his plan to endorse Sen. John Cornyn for reelection over his challenger Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, who has a reputation as a MAGA crusader. Trump ultimately backed off and endorsed Paxton just before the runoff election. He would go on to win the nomination.
In South Carolina, some GOP activists have criticized Evette for being an Ohio transplant — she moved south more than 20 years ago — and for representing a continuation of a state establishment they say they want to shake up. Evette, who joined Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s ticket as his running mate in the 2018 election, also has his backing.
One person with knowledge of Trump’s thinking described the South Carolina runoff as “very close” and said that has prompted Trump’s team to be “watching numbers closely.” Another person close to Trump said the race appears to be a toss-up.
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Four other people briefed on private, internal polling in the race said both sides’ surveys show Wilson with an advantage over Evette. The people all spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.
Trump endorsed Evette a week and a half before the first-round primary election after months of jockeying by the candidates for his endorsement. Trump did so at the urging of McMaster, said one of the people familiar with Trump’s thinking on the race, in part because Evette was an early endorser of his last presidential campaign — endorsing him in January 2023, long before most other officials in the state did. Polling at the time “showed she could win,” the person said.
While Trump backed Evette, holding a tele-rally for her and Sen. Lindsey Graham on the eve of the primary election last week, a flurry of endorsements from conservative leaders in the state have gone to Wilson ahead of the runoff. The endorsers include two of the other candidates in the first round: Rep. Nancy Mace, who finished fifth, and the third-place finisher, Rep. Ralph Norman.
“I don’t know how well he knows the candidates. I hoped he’d stay out of it,” Norman said, referring to Trump, at a news conference Monday announcing his decision. “People have a choice to make. Donald Trump’s not on the ballot.”
Norman said he was endorsing Wilson “to stop the corrupt establishment and the good old boy system in Columbia,” citing continued growth and development in deep-red South Carolina and concern about “becoming a purple state.”
Wes Climer, a state senator who is the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee in the 5th Congressional District — the seat Norman is vacating — also endorsed Wilson on Monday. Members of the state legislature’s Freedom Caucus have also gotten behind him. In a statement, Climer said that conservatives in South Carolina “are speaking up” and that he wants to see Wilson “bring real conservative change to Columbia.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Evette and Wilson are set to face off Tuesday night for the sole debate of the runoff election. Early voting begins Wednesday, ahead of the June 23 election. The winner will face Democrat Jermaine Johnson in November, though no Democrat has won the governorship since 1998.
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