{"id":4001,"date":"2026-06-16T17:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:35:52","slug":"trump-mulls-co-endorsement-in-south-carolina-as-governors-race-proves-tight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001","title":{"rendered":"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight"},"content":{"rendered":"

An endorsement of both candidates would be the latest example of the president hedging his bets to avoid a fight with conservative activists.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Flyers acquire goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit in a trade with the Maple Leafs<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, center, is facing state Attorney General Alan Wilson in a runoff in the GOP gubernatorial primary. (Sean Rayford\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

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\u2019s governor\u2019s race by potentially endorsing both remaining Republicans.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, whom Trump endorsed shortly before the first round of the state\u2019s primary, eked out a first-place finish last week in a crowded field, advancing to a June 23 runoff against Attorney General Alan Wilson.<\/p>\n

But people close to the president acknowledged to The Washington Post that despite Trump\u2019s endorsement, the runoff election is too close for comfort. Endorsing both candidates, which Trump has done on several other occasions, isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

The South Carolina primary provides the latest example that Trump\u2019s endorsement alone \u2014 while still seen as a critical boost in most Republican primaries \u2014 is not always enough to sway conservative activists who are distrustful of his chosen candidate.<\/p>\n

Trump recently suffered a loss in Iowa\u2019s gubernatorial primary, where his late-endorsed candidate, Rep. Randy Feenstra, lost earlier this month. After Feenstra\u2019s loss, Trump said <\/b>he \u201cdidn\u2019t have enough information\u201d when he made his endorsement <\/b>decision. If he had known more, he would have endorsed the winning candidate, Zach Lahn, Trump said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Trump faced an uproar from conservative activists<\/a> in Texas after news broke of his plan to endorse<\/a> Sen. John Cornyn for reelection over his challenger Ken Paxton, the state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In South Carolina, some GOP activists have criticized Evette for being an Ohio transplant \u2014 she moved south more than 20 years ago \u2014 and for representing a continuation of a state establishment <\/b>they say they want to shake up. Evette, who joined Republican Gov. Henry McMaster\u2019s ticket as his running mate in the 2018 election, also has his backing.<\/p>\n

One person with knowledge of Trump\u2019s thinking described the South Carolina runoff as \u201cvery close\u201d and said that has prompted Trump\u2019s team to be \u201cwatching numbers closely.\u201d Another person <\/b>close to Trump <\/b>said the race appears to be a toss-up.<\/p>

Read more US Open returns to Shinnecock Hills for the 6th time. LPGA stays in Michigan<\/a><\/p>\n

Four other people briefed on private, internal polling in the race said both sides\u2019 surveys show Wilson with an advantage over Evette. The people all spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s thinking on the race, in part because Evette was an early endorser of his last presidential campaign \u2014 endorsing him in January 2023, long before most other officials in the state did. Polling at the time \u201cshowed she could win,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how well he knows the candidates. I hoped he\u2019d stay out of it,\u201d Norman said, referring to Trump, at a news conference Monday announcing his decision. \u201cPeople have a choice to make. Donald Trump\u2019s not on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norman said he was endorsing Wilson \u201cto stop the corrupt establishment and the good old boy system in Columbia,\u201d citing continued growth and development in deep-red South Carolina and concern about \u201cbecoming a purple state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wes Climer, a state senator who is the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee in the 5th Congressional District \u2014 the seat Norman is vacating \u2014 also endorsed Wilson on Monday. Members of the state legislature\u2019s Freedom Caucus have also gotten behind him. In a statement, Climer said that conservatives in South Carolina \u201care speaking up\u201d and that he wants to see Wilson \u201cbring real conservative change to Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>

Read more Ghana appeals Canada\u2019s denial of World Cup visa for Partey, who faces rape charges<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An endorsement of both candidates would be the latest example of the president hedging his bets to avoid a fight with conservative activists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight - Moving Insider USA<\/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:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An endorsement of both candidates would be the latest example of the president hedging his bets to avoid a fight with conservative activists.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T17:35:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fdbf1d858f3c99dabfe3661b7dff3e21-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T17:35:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001\"},\"wordCount\":895,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001\",\"name\":\"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T17:35:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4001#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"An endorsement of both candidates would be the latest example of the president hedging his bets to avoid a fight with conservative activists.","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T17:35:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fdbf1d858f3c99dabfe3661b7dff3e21-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight","datePublished":"2026-06-16T17:35:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001"},"wordCount":895,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001","name":"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-16T17:35:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/86b65d50a10b0e519f177291dea97de0-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4001#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump mulls co-endorsement in South Carolina as governor\u2019s race proves tight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}