South Carolina’s already testy GOP governor’s runoff turned openly hostile in a Tuesday night televised debate that saw Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson throw political haymakers and conservative red meat to a raucous crowd at Coastal Carolina University.
The contentious debate came at the midpoint of a two-week runoff sprint that political observers say will likely crown term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster’s successor in a state where Democrats haven’t won a statewide race in two decades.
“While my opponent was cutting ribbons in a ceremonial job and wasting time in the lieutenant governor’s office, I was out there fighting for you,” Wilson said in an opening statement that highlighted his active duty combat service and record as attorney general.
Cracking back in her opening response, Evette reframed Wilson’s four terms in office as a negative for GOP voters.
“There’s two of us on stage now and the choice will be really clear: You can pick a Trump-endorsed businesswoman or you can pick a career politician,” Evette said, gesturing toward her opponent.
Things only turned crankier as the night wore on, as each candidate accused the other of lying in campaign materials.
In particular, Evette took umbrage at Wilson’s claim that her company’s diversity consulting made her a “DEI queen,” saying “he knows full well that I did not profit from DEI” (diversity, equity and inclusion).
Meanwhile, Wilson denounced an Evette TV ad that suggests he raised his own salary as attorney general when it was imposed in 2022 by a legislature-controlled compensation commission.
But on a night when the candidates could find little to disagree about on the issues, from expanding private school vouchers to eliminating the state income tax, one major difference did emerge on the question of casino gambling.
Wilson, like Evette’s mentor McMaster, said he has “serious concerns,” citing law enforcement concerns. Conversely, Evette argued that it should be a referendum question for voters.
“If it has a good impact, then you’ve got to take it to the people when it comes to casinos,” she said.
Endorsements, polls and momentum
Despite her close first-place finish in a five-candidate field on June 9, many political strategists saw significant momentum for Wilson in the runoff’s first week, with press reports challenging the specifics of Evette’s attacks, major new endorsements coming Wilson’s way and some early public polls appearing to give an edge to Wilson.
Specifically, they say, Monday’s endorsement from former candidate and 5th District U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, who won four Upstate counties on his way to a third-place finish on June 9, was a major boost for Wilson.
But just as important in shaping first-week perceptions may have been the small size of Evette’s so-called “Trump bump,” which only gave her a narrow 29% to 26% lead on primary night.
According to Winthrop political science professor Scott Huffmon, that weakness may have resulted from the circumstances surrounding Trump’s endorsement of Evette.
“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.”
Complicating the picture further for Evette was a June 16 Washington Post report indicating that Trump, who’s said to be concerned about current polling in the race, was considering a new dual endorsement that would include both Evette and Wilson.
Nevertheless, with both candidates showing significant election-night strength across the state and able to compete financially, political watchers still tell the City Paper they expect the race to go down to the wire.
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.”
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.
