SC’s Alan Wilson wins GOP nomination for governor after runoff against Evette
One year ago today, while standing on a stage at Hudson’s Smokehouse in Lexington, South Carolina, Attorney General Alan Wilson kicked off his campaign for governor expecting the race to go to a runoff.
Wilson was joined by his wife, two children and parents. Wilson’s staff marked on green pieces of tape where everyone would stand on the stage.
At the base of the lectern was another piece of green tape. In black letters it read “Future Gov. Wilson” with a smiley face drawn.
Wilson, who is the son of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, took a major step toward that prognostication Tuesday, when he won the Republican nomination for governor by defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a runoff election.
The Associated Press called the race at 7:29 p.m.
The call came so early that there wasn’t a large cheer from the attendees at Wilson’s runoff night party. Many of those in attendance were still coming in, having hors d’oeuvres and getting drinks.
When Wilson took to the stage to cheers of “Alan! Alan! Alan!” he thanked the other candidates who ran in the GOP race: state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and businessman Rom Reddy.
He then spoke about Evette and thanked her for entering the race as well and added Evette has faithfully served Gov. Henry McMaster.
“I’m gonna say this about Ms. Evette, she is not my enemy. Her supporters are not our enemy,” Wilson said. “They’re our fellow citizens.”
“While we competed, it was sometimes very tough. I want to thank her for throwing her name into the ring, being the woman in the arena,” Wilson added.
Evette’s base was similarly silent at her watch event, as guests continued to mill around, chatting and lining up at the bar.
Around 8:15, Evette took to the stage to address supporters at her event in Myrtle Beach.
“I won’t pretend that I’m not disappointed, because I am ... This wasn’t just a campaign for me, it was a movement, a movement built around keeping South Carolina the best place to live, to work, and to raise your family, and so just a few minutes ago I called Alan Wilson to congratulate him on his win tonight, and to tell him that he has my support as the party’s nominee,” Evette said.
Wilson now faces state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Wilson will be the favorite to succeed McMaster, the longest serving governor in state history, in the reliably Republican state.
“I think Jermaine is a wonderful person, I like him, I consider him a friend,” Wilson said. “He’s got an incredibly powerful family story, a tragic story. I’ve heard it, and look, I look forward to competing with Jermaine, like I said, just like I said with the other candidates. Jermaine Johnson and the Democrats are not my enemies, we’re competitors. We’re competing on the field of ideas, and I look forward to having a spirited debate in the coming months with him.”
Wilson finished second in the primary behind Evette. The lieutenant governor, who entered the primary as the only candidate with President Donald Trump’s endorsement, received only 28.86% of the vote. Wilson received 26.14% of the vote.
Even though nearly 29% of voters supported Evette in the primary, it was not nearly enough to gain the majority of support needed to secure the nomination.
In the two weeks after the primary, polling showed Wilson had a lead over Evette in a head-to-head matchup. A survey by Trump pollster John McLaughlin that had Wilson up by 41 percentage points.
Elected officials also started rallying around Wilson after the primary. He was endorsed by state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman who all sought the GOP nomination for governor this year. Wilson also rolled out additional endorsements in the last two weeks bringing his total to 50 state lawmakers. Evette only had 30 state lawmakers backing her campaign.
“Alan Wilson was authentic, joyful and steady,” Republican strategist Rob Godfrey said. “The attorney general appealed to the broadest base of conservative voters by discussing how to make the state more affordable for families and businesses, how to make communities safer for all, and how to make government accountable to voters.”
Wilson’s support included 19 state senators and 31 House members, including members from both the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus and traditional House GOP caucus.
“I think he did a better job of defining what he would do as governor, and who he was, and what he, what he stood for. No. 1,” said longtime political observer former operative Warren Tompkins. “No. 2, I think he just had a much broader base appeal to all elements of the party.”
Evette often touted the relationships she built in the general assembly during her two terms as lieutenant governor, but Wilson appears to just have more because he’s been attorney general for four terms.
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“It’s twice the amount of time to develop relationships where he has been working with members of the House and Senate directly on several different issues relating to the attorney general’s office,” said GOP strategist Dave Wilson, who is no relation to the attorney general. “Evette has been the backup quarterback for the McMaster administration, saying that she’s developing relationships, but not spending nearly the amount of time there that you see with Wilson, who’s been there longer.”
The biggest blow to the lieutenant governor’s campaign came Friday when Trump changed his endorsement in the race to a dual-endorsement of Evette and Wilson as the president hedged his bet to make sure he publicly supported the winner in the race.
Even though Alan Wilson during the campaign would speak about his record of defending the president and his agenda, the attorney general ran most of the campaign without Trump’s endorsement, and initially didn’t receive it. He didn’t receive the Trump endorsement until four days before the runoff.
Alan Wilson said Tuesday morning he was grateful for Trump’s endorsement, but gave praise to his campaign staff.
“My team put in a full year of hard work. We poured our guts into this campaign. We tried to run a positive campaign,” Alan Wilson said. “We tried to make it about the voters, about the future of South Carolina, and you know, people can assign it to the president, they can assign it to endorsements, but at the end of the day, it’s not endorsements that win elections, it’s message, it’s the organization, the candidates, and the people around them.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott followed Trump’s endorsement Friday by publicly backing the Wilson campaign as well. Scott had been helping Wilson with fundraising.
Alan Wilson formally kicked off his campaign June 23, 2025, but had been touring the state for several months prior as he assembled a campaign apparatus. Wilson’s team also appeared to run the steadiest race not overreacting to developments, sticking to its course and avoiding gaffes.
Wilson, in January, named state Sen. Mike Reichenbach, R-Florence, as his running mate, which allowed the campaign to increase the number of places and groups they could speak to.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Evette began calling Alan Wilson, who has been elected four times as attorney general, a “career politician” as she tried to promote her outside business perspective. She also attacked him for the 2023 pay raise he received bringing his annual pay from $92,000 to $208,000.
When speaking at his campaign office last week, Alan Wilson pushed back on the career politician characterization.
“To me, it’s about a state of mind,” Alan Wilson said. “I tell people all the time, the day that I act like the job that I’m holding, whether it’s attorney general or governor, the day that I act like that job is my job is a day I no longer deserve your support, because it belongs to the people. We simply hold offices and trust for the people, and that’s my mentality. And so I’m here to serve people, not serve myself.”
The State’s Joseph Bustos reported from Columbia. The Sun News’ Maria Elena Scott reported from Myrtle Beach.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 7:30 PM.
