(The Center Square) – Staunchly conservative South Carolina Republicans will choose from four recognizable names and one political outsider in the gubernatorial primary on Tuesday in the race to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster.
Polling has been tight for Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and outsider Rom Reddy, the former Exxon Chemical manager turning around multiple companies through acquisition, restructure or sales. Last week’s decision by the president, however, may have changed the trajectory of the race.
State House Rep. Jermaine Johnson is polling ahead of Mullins McLeod and Billy Webster among the Democrats.
Appointed in 2017 to fill the vacancy created by former Gov. Nikki Haley going to the United Nations, McMaster won the limit of two consecutive terms in 2020 and 2024. He turned 79 last month and is the oldest to serve in the office.
Evette led two polls released in four days this week – Tuesday’s from The Citadel and Friday’s from the Trafalgar Group. The second is notable because it came after an endorsement from second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
In the former, she clipped Wilson and Mace 17%-16%, with Reddy (14%) and Norman (13%) trailing. In the latter Evette (26.3%) is decisively ahead of Reddy (17.2%), Wilson (16.9%), Norman (16.1%) and Mace (14.2%).
The Citadel Poll, taken May 21-31, of 1,505 registered voters carries a +/- 3.2% margin of error. Thus, it’s a statistical tie for Evette, Wilson, Mace and Reddy. On May 21-24, Trafalgar had 1,125 respondents and a +/- 2.9% margin of error in a three-way dead heat poll for Evette (19.9%), Wilson (19.4%) and Reddy (19%).
Evette is campaigning on standing by Trump and his “American First Agenda”; eliminating the state income tax; a DOGE-style proposal to launch SCOGE, the South Carolina Office of Government Efficiency; and accountability for elected officials and elections.
Reddy has refused donations and declines endorsements in his “Something Different” campaign. His four-principle core is to restore God-given rights; honor the Constitution; selfless leadership; and end weaponized government.
Wilson is campaigning on protection of families and communities, and their values. He hopes to lower taxes, empower parents in their child’s pursuit of education, has plans for infrastructure, and wants to expand access to rural healthcare.
Norman bills his campaign as one to “clean up Columbia” and “knock down the corrupt political establishment once and for all.” Infrastructure, term limits, education, giving voters a choice on judges, and creation of a government efficiency arm for the state lead his top issues.
Mace is the first female graduate of The Citadel, a distinct rise from high school dropout and working at Waffle House. She’s mostly been an ally of Trump in the U.S. House, notably breaking away on foreign policy after America and Israel attacked Iran.
Infrastructure, immigration, no state income tax, law and order, energy, protection of spaces for women and children, and advancement of school choice are top policy issues for Mace.
The last Democrat to win the governor’s office, Jim Hodges in 1998, was also the last one-term governor. It’s all the way back to the 1978 and 1982 elections of Richard Wilson Riley to find the Democrat before Hodges.
That’s a definitive turn in the last half century of elections from those of 1868 through 1970. A Democrat won the governor’s race in each one.
