- BIG STORY: Evette opens runoff with inaccurate attacks against Wilson
- ROUNDUP: Early voters face tight deadlines for runoff ballots
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: How’s that governor’s race lookin’?
- BRACK: We can all do better
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Rusty contraption
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
Evette opens runoff with inaccurate attacks against Wilson
By Jack O’Toole, Statehouse bureau | In a move that supporters characterized as “aggressive” and opponents called “desperate,” Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette opened the state’s Republican gubernatorial runoff this week with a shotgun blast of contestable claims about the record and character of her opponent, state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
The attacks followed a tight statewide primary Tuesday that saw the President Donald Trump-endorsed Evette narrowly top a five-person field of GOP hopefuls, garnering 29% of the vote to Wilson’s 26% that pushed the two into a June 23 runoff election.
“In this runoff,” Evette wrote in a Wednesday morning social media post, “it’s a simple choice between a career politician with no business experience who lines his pockets with your tax dollars OR a @realDonaldTrump endorsed businesswoman and conservative who’s going to take the fight to the radical left for you and your family.”
Later that day and into Thursday, the Evette campaign rolled out additional posts and a 30-second TV spot aimed at substantiating the claims — all of which Wilson disputes.
“While my opponent focuses on mudslinging and baseless claims that are provably false, I’m focused on delivering results,” he said Thursday.
A personal brawl?
Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon explained that intraparty contests like the high-profile gubernatorial runoff can quickly turn into personal brawls when the candidates mostly agree on the issues.
“If there’s no inherent policy difference, you’ve got to differentiate yourself on the character of the person,” Huffmon told Statehouse Report. “So when you can’t run policy ads legitimately, then you wind up with ad hominem attacks.”
Also possibly contributing to Evette’s strategy: Despite a close first-place finish Tuesday night, she appeared to have gotten a smaller “Trump bump” than many other GOP endorsees around the country.
“In the majority of primaries where he’s endorsed, his candidate just shot to victory,” Huffmon said. “But his endorsement just didn’t have the same impact in this race, arguably because of all the accusations about quid-pro-quo backroom deals.”
Huffmon was referring to widely reported rumors, amplified by social media, that Trump’s endorsement was the result of a possible deal between the president and Gov. Henry McMaster — a charge McMaster denied publicly after Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, told reporters on May 14 that he hoped there was no “corrupt bargain” to secure an endorsement.
“Whether the conspiracy accusations are true or not,” Huffmon said, “it looks like they had an impact in blunting Trump’s endorsement.”
The inaccurate accusations against Wilson
Since Tuesday’s primary, Evette has leveled at least four specific allegations against Wilson, three of which were highlighted in a Thursday morning social media post that referred to the attorney general as a “corrupt, self-dealing career politician.”
“Wilson more than DOUBLED his taxpayer-funded salary, accepting a 126% pay raise,” Evette said. “Wilson used your tax dollars to pay off his friends, giving $70 million of no-bid government contracts to campaign donors who bankrolled his campaign. Wilson nearly had to resign in disgrace in the wake of a corruption investigation.”
The Evette campaign didn’t reply by press time to a request for further information regarding the charges, particularly the claim that Wilson “nearly had to resign.”
A Wilson campaign spokesman called the allegations “easily disprovable” in a Thursday email exchange with the City Paper, attaching a document that addressed the issues one-by-one.
The 2022 pay raise, the document noted, was imposed by a state compensation commission created by the legislature, not sought by Wilson — a refutation backed up by former Democratic state Rep. Mandy Powers Norell in a Thursday social media post.
“We forced it on him and many other agency heads [because] they were making so much less than others they supervised,” Norell wrote. “They had no say in it at all. He was making less than solicitors.”
Regarding the claim that Wilson directed “$70 million” to supporters — a charge that appears to refer to his use of outside attorneys on a contingency basis to secure a $600 million settlement from the federal government regarding plutonium at the Savannah River Site — the campaign called it “the highest-ever settlement for state taxpayers” in S.C. history.
The contingency arrangement, which the attorney general’s office said was necessary to attract outside attorneys with relevant experience and expertise, was later upheld unanimously by the state Supreme Court.
Finally is the charge that he “nearly had to resign following a corruption investigation.” This appears to refer to a 2017 S.C. Democratic Party press release calling on Wilson to resign after he attempted to fire special prosecutor David Pascoe during a Statehouse corruption probe. But Wilson’s campaign noted that he then “ran for re-election and actually won by a larger margin than the Governor/Lt. Gov ticket.”
In the long-running series of legal challenges that followed, the state Supreme Court ruled that Pascoe could remain in place, but later narrowed the scope of his prosecutorial authority, leading Pascoe to turn over his remaining case files to Wilson’s office.
Also on Thursday, the Evette campaign promoted a press conference by three of her Statehouse supporters attacking Wilson for asking lawmakers to support former Democratic Rep. James Smith’s nomination for a judgeship.
The Wilson campaign responded that the nomination was made by a committee controlled by the GOP supermajority legislature, and that the committee had nominated two Democrats and no Republicans for the seat.
The legislature eventually decided to reject Smith’s nomination and start the process again.
What to look for through June 23
Looking ahead, Citadel political science professor Mark Owens identified strong spots for each campaign coming out of the first round — strengths that he expects each campaign to try to enhance or mitigate in the days ahead.
First, he said to look for Evette to focus on the Lowcountry, where Wilson overperformed Tuesday — and where a hotly contested GOP 1st Congressional District runoff between Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Honeycutt and Berkeley Rep. Mark Smith will draw Wilson’s voters back out to the polls.
Next, he pointed to the four Upstate counties where 5th District U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman carried a plurality of the vote on his way to a third-place finish on election night.
Those counties, Owens said, might see more on-the-ground campaigning from the candidates and their surrogates than is typical in modern campaigns because they’re in the Charlotte media market — making traditional TV buys expensive and inefficient.
Finally, Owens said he expects both campaigns to try to maximize a finding that’s appeared in Citadel polling on the race — namely, Evette’s advantage with people who’ve moved to the state in the past 10 years, and Wilson’s corresponding advantage with South Carolina natives.
“For people who are very strong in their partisanship and just moved to the state, those voters are most drawn to Evette by President Trump’s endorsement,” Owens said, noting her election-night strength in newcomer-rich Horry County. “And the fact that those who were born here are often in [large metros] like Columbia can help the attorney general in the race.”
Asked what he expects over the runoff’s final days, Winthrop’s Huffmon chuckled, and noted that in the Palmetto State, politics is usually a contact sport.
“Oh, there’s a good chance this will get nastier,” Huffmon said. “We’re going to see people drawing blood — because that’s what happens in South Carolina.”
Jack O’Toole is Statehouse bureau chief for Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Early voters face tight deadlines for runoff ballots
By Jack O’Toole, Statehouse bureau | With three statewide and three congressional party nominations up for grabs, Palmetto State voters have strong incentives to return to the polls for runoff elections on June 23 — but those looking to take advantage of early voting options need to act soon.
Due to the Juneteenth holiday on June 19, in-person early voting will be limited to two days — Wednesday, June 17, and Thursday, June 18 — from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Those wishing to vote absentee must have their ballots in by 7 p.m. on June 23.
For a list of local early voting locations or more on absentee ballots, visit SCVotes.gov.
In addition the GOP governor’s runoff between Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson, Republicans will pick final winners in the S.C. attorney general’s race between Georgetown Sen. Stephen Goldfinch against 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo and the Agriculture Commissioner contest that pits Cody Simpson against Danny Ford II.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the 1st Congressional District will settle a race between Berkeley County Rep. Mark Smith and Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Honeycutt.
On the Democratic side, there are no statewide runoffs. But 1st Congressional District voters will choose between retired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore and Coast Guard veteran and attorney Mac Deford, while 2nd District voters will choose either David Robinson II or Zyon Khalifa, both military veterans, to take on incumbent GOP Rep. Joe Wilson, who happens to be Alan Wilson’s father.
All valid S.C. voters who did not participate in the other party’s primary on June 9 are eligible to vote in the runoff primaries.
In other recent news
ELECTIONS: Graham, Andrews, Clyburn win primaries; 1st District to go to runoff. Two Washington political veterans with national profiles handily fended off primary challengers in South Carolina’s Tuesday primary elections.
- Wilson, Timmons beat two GOP challengers while Clyburn sails toward 18th term
- Winners of three competitive Charleston Co. Statehouse primaries
- Few tears shed over Mace’s loss
- Full 2026 election results for S.C.
IAAM’s financial troubles lead to staff furlough. Financial pressures at the International African American Museum are leading it to furlough staff and leadership on a rotating basis for 20 days each starting next month through the end of the year. Leaders say the furlough seeks to avoid layoffs and reduce expenses. Throughout the six-month furlough period, the museum will remain open.
S.C. Supreme Court judge appoints new circuit judge in Murdaugh retrial. Judge Debra McCaslin, a former criminal defense attorney who practiced in the Midlands, will have the duties of overseeing what is expected to be one of the state’s highest profile trials.
S.C. drought lingers despite wet May, with much of the Upstate still severely dry. A wetter-than-normal month brought temporary relief to a state that had been parched since last fall, nearly all of the state remains under some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Massive data center plan dropped after public outcry. A giant data center won’t be built in Marion County, as proposed, after a public outcry and questions about the availability of power.
S.C. drops to 4th most-dangerous state for pedestrians. The Palmetto State is now considered to be the fourth deadliest state in the country for pedestrians. The Charleston-North Charleston and Columbia areas are the deadliest in the state, ranked 12th and 18th deadliest nationwide, according to data Smart Growth America released June 9.
How’s that governor’s race going?
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he takes a look at the recent GOP governor’s primary where candidates weren’t that distinguishable.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Brack: We can all do better
Commentary by Andy Brack | All of us are imperfect creatures.
We see these imperfections every day in the politician who twists facts or outright lies. Or in the greedy businessman who squeezes someone to make another penny. And in the person who is having a bad day and yells at someone for no reason.
Face it: We can all do better.
But the hurly-burly of modern life with its tweets and calls and interruptions and reels and posts and doomscrolling and vicious whatnot seem to make us forget the things we learned as kids at home, church and school.
With summer and time off ahead, you might want to take stock and reflect on how things are going in your life. The recent passing of my father reminded me that I should reexamine lessons learned from him and my mother as a boy in south Georgia and as a high schooler in Atlanta.
Here are some of the lessons they shared by setting good examples that might spur summertime reflections:
First: Do the right thing. It might be hard. It might be unpopular. But you won’t lose sleep at night for making a good decision that doesn’t hurt others.
Second: Along those lines, help people when you can in the way that they need help – or might not even know will help. You might pay it forward for someone. Or you could connect a person to someone else who might help – and find out later that the intro opened a new world.
Third: Pay your bills. This applies to governments as well as families. It’s pitiful that the U.S. government operates as if the checkbook is always open. It needs some fiscal discipline and should be required – at a minimum – to have the balanced budget that many states like South Carolina have.
Fourth: Have an open mind. Without it, you let in hate, fear and all sorts of deadly sins.
Fifth: Little things matter. Get the details right. If you can’t get the little things right, most will wonder whether you can even do the big things at all.
Sixth: Support American democracy. The rule of law matters. Too many people are getting away from these two fundamentals over which the nation fought wars. Don’t dishonor our heroes by slipping away from “a more perfect union” into autocracy.
Seventh: Let people know what you think, but don’t be ugly about it. A corollary might be to keep your mouth shut if you can’t find at least an iota of good to share.
Eighth: Be kind. This might be hard when you’re having a bad day, but it’s a good guide every day.
As a related aside, here is something that’s framed in my office thanks to my dad. These are his 15 maxims for a newspaperman, but they have broader applications like those above:
- Observe deadlines.
- Trust your instincts.
- Pay for quality.
- Treat salesmen and visitors well.
- Be first in something.
- Get inside the building.
- Better hiring means less firing.
- Solve problems at the lowest possible level.
- Always return your telephone calls.
- About them sentence fragments.
- He who prints, pays.
- Never handle a piece of paper twice.
- If you make enough calls, you make enough sales.
- Try to get along with all, but do what you gotta do.
- Observe deadlines.
The late Coach John Wooden probably would add one more thing: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Rusty contraption
This might be kind of hard to identify, but it’s on a body of water somewhere in South Carolina. What is it? Where is it? Send in your best guess – and your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com. And if you have a mystery photo to share, send that along too (but tell us what it is because we’re horrible guessers.)
Last week’s photo, “Bakery,” showed the unoccupied Main Street Bake Shoppe building in downtown Clinton, which reportedly was open from 2019 to 2024.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, shared: “The current, two-story brick building was built around 1901 to replace a smaller single-story structure. Over its lifespan, the building served as a number of commercial shops and was a vital part of the retail business in downtown Clinton. Before the Main Street Bake Shoppe opened here, the building was home to a local specialty retail shop called Antiques On Main.”
Hats off to the three other sleuths who solved the mystery: Jay Altman of Columbia; Michael Webb of Hartsville; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
- SHARE: If you have a Mystery Photo to share, please send it to us – and make sure you tell us what it is!
Send us your thoughts
Please send us your thoughts about politics and policy in South Carolina, but make sure to leave phone numbers and hometowns to help us verify them for publication. We publish non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your views.
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Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
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