Crowded stage, abortion vetoes. Takeaways from 2nd televised SCGOP governor debate
Six of the GOP hopefuls for governor faced off in the second South Carolina Republican debate and kept mostly away from the fisticuffs.
Here are five takeaways from the debate.
Stayed cordial, again.
The first televised debate had four candidates. The second debate had six on stage, creating even less airtime for the candidates. And rules allowing candidates to respond if their name is invoked kept the candidates from doing direct attacks when time is already limited.
“It just may be a happy by-product,” SC GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said before the debate. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace publicly thanked Attorney General Alan Wilson and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman for offering condolences for the death her father.
Mace and Norman even had a funny, friendly moment during a question about roads.
“One of the things that Ralph always says, he missed it tonight, he wants the lieutenant governor to be a road czar. So I want to ask Ralph to be my road czar. Mace said on stage, receiving laughs.
“Nancy, thank you for the compliment. I will be a tremendous road czar, and I too will put the lieutenant governor as a road czar, and it will no longer be a position that is kissing babies and blowing bubbles,” Norman responded, as he received an extra 30 seconds because his name was playfully invoked.
Reddy, Evette join the stage
This was Isle of Palms businessman Rom Reddy’s first debate and he had the opportunity to show he was not like any of the other hopefuls.
Reddy repeatedly said the phrase “political ruling class” as he tries to establish himself as the anti-establishment candidate. He pointed out how other candidates have been in elected office for many years and have not produced results.
“In my world, in my private sector, if I don’t get results, I fire people. I’m like, ‘you’re done. See ya! There’s no results’,” Reddy told reporters after the debate.
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette also joined this debate after skipping the first one, scoffing at the cost of tickets to attend. She has yet to decide if she will participate in the May 26 debate. She has committed to a debate on SC ETV, which is still being finalized.
“Debates are kind of like a rite of passage, and I would do one, or maybe do two. But this just happened to work with my schedule,” Evette said.
The 45-second time limit for answers under the bright lights is an adjustment from giving a stump speech on the campaign trail.
Moderators cut-off Evette and Reddy twice during their responses as the time limit expired. Wilson and Mace were each cut-off once.
Last GOP-sponsored debate with Kimbrell?
The polling threshold will be 5% for the next SC GOP debate, which is scheduled for Wofford College in Spartanburg on May 26.
“A lot can happen over the next four weeks,” McKissick said.
Polls, however, have not shown state Sen. Josh Kimbrell meeting that threshold, but he was confident he would be on the next debate stage.
“The only polls that have been published since the first debate were pushed by other campaigns. I haven’t seen any real polling average change since then,” Kimbrell said. “I felt the reaction we had on the first debate, laying out a positive agenda of what I’ve worked on in the legislature, all the things we’ve done, we felt a very strong bounce off that.”
Would they sign the latest anti-abortion bill?
Candidates were asked if they would sign a bill that passed out of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee that would ban all abortions except when the life of the pregnant woman is at risk. State law allows abortions until a heartbeat is detected, around the sixth week of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. The bill also has criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions and for women who have abortions.
Evette said she would veto the bill.
“S. 1095 has gone too far,” Evette said.
Mace said she has the same position as President Donald Trump.
“I am pro-life, with exceptions for rape and incest and life of the mother,” Mace said.
Wilson said he would veto the bill and said the state needs to reform its foster care and adoption systems.
“This is an issue, I believe, because it’s so emotional, is so divisive that we must recognize the reality of the environment that we’re in, that in dealing with policies and approaching issue like abortion, we must have compassion for the unborn and the mother. We must build consensus for everyone moving forward and apply common sense,” Wilson said.
Reddy called for a public vote on the issue.
“Let’s put it to a referendum if you can’t agree, and put this thing to bed once and for all,” Reddy said.
Kimbrell, who is on the Senate Medical Affairs Committee but was not present for Tuesday’s vote, said he cannot support the penalties included in the legislation.
“My position is, I always support a conversation about life. I do personally believe that life begins in conception. At the same time as a Christian, I believe there (are) two sides of the Christian message, justice and mercy,” Kimbrell said. “I will never support a bill that puts a woman who is scared in jail ... I’m pro-life, but I will take the position of justice and mercy, love and compassion.”
Norman, who has 17 grandchildren, said he would sign the bill.
“The mental illness part of this is what really needs to be addressed,” Norman said. “It’s harsh to put someone in prison, that 15-year-old who’s aborted a baby or attempted to, that being said again, if it gets to my desk I would sign it, and I think that would be the right step.”
Evette responses get on-stage reactions
Two of Evette’s comments during Tuesday’s debate received some visible reactions from her fellow candidates.
During her closing statement, Evette, who ran her own business before going into politics, said voters should ask themselves a question.
“When you look at everybody here on stage, ask yourself, Who would I hire to be the CEO of my company?” Evette said. In that moment, Reddy pointed to himself, and audience members began to laugh.
After the debate, while speaking to reporters, Evette said she didn’t notice what Reddy did. Mace and Wilson stood between Evette and Reddy.
“I was kind of looking at the audience. I kind of couldn’t hear everything Rom was saying, he was kind of quiet, and so it wasn’t delivering down my way very much,” Evette said.
In a question about how would they unite the different factions within the Republican Party, Evette spoke about working with Gov. Henry McMaster.
“Unlike everybody else on this stage, I’m the only one that is sitting in the executive branch, and I have been fortunate to work with Gov. McMaster, who has shown me, not only as a friend, but as a mentor, how much you can get done when you work with the General Assembly,” Evette said.
But Wilson visibly shook his head during that response, and had a quick follow up when moderators allowed candidates an extra 30 seconds to speak.
“For everyone at home, I actually am in the executive branch of government,” Wilson said, which received cheers from the audience.
No Dubose. Here’s why
A seventh person filed to run for the Republican nomination for governor: Jacqueline Hicks Dubose. But with the polling and fundraising requirements waived, she still didn’t receive an invitation from the party.
McKissick said her filing fee check of $4,243.12 did not clear.
The party had to certify her as a candidate before her check cleared. She is still listed as an active candidate on the South Carolina Election Commission website.
“She properly filed, assuming that the check was good,” McKissick said. “But we didn’t have time to know if the check had cleared the bank or not before I signed a piece of paper with her name on it and sent it to the election commission.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
