South Carolina Gubernatorial Primary

A crowded G.O.P. primary is being held to replace South Carolina’s term-limited Republican governor, Henry McMaster. Five candidates have received significant support in statewide polling. Donald Trump has endorsed McMaster’s lieutenant governor, Pamela Evette, who has led in most recent polls. State Attorney General Alan Wilson has been supported by state attorneys general across the country. Wilson was the vice-chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association during the January 6th attack, before which the association’s fund-raising group made robocalls urging “patriots” to march on Congress and demand that it overturn the 2020 election results. He also became a national figure for his work as a prosecutor in the case against Alex Murdaugh—the high-profile South Carolina attorney accused of killing his wife and son—whose conviction was recently overturned.

Nancy Mace, a U.S. representative, has also garnered strong support in the primary. Mace, the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, the famous military college in South Carolina, has become a major figure in the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, but she broke with President Trump by supporting the release of the Epstein files. Ralph Norman, a U.S. representative from South Carolina, and Rom Reddy, a businessman, are also running.

On the Democratic side, Jermaine Johnson, a state representative and a former professional basketball player, is the front-runner. Also running are William Mullins McLeod, Jr., a personal-injury lawyer from Charleston, and Billy Webster, a businessman from Greenville who worked in the Clinton Administration.