Lt. Gov. Evette scores President Donald Trump’s endorsement in 2026 governor’s race

COLUMBIA — South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette clinched the much sought-after endorsement of President Donald Trump in the crowded race for the Governor’s Mansion.

“Pam Evette is a good friend, fighter, and WINNER, and will be a terrific Governor of South Carolina. Pam has my Complete and Total Endorsement — SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” the president wrote in a post at 5:45 p.m. Friday on his social media platform Truth Social.

Speculation had been swirling about whether the president would weigh in on the six-way Republican primary that pits Evette against state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, businessman Rom Reddy, and Attorney General Alan Wilson.

The endorsement comes 11 days before the June 9 primary. A week remains in early voting. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, a runoff June 23 will determine the GOP nominee to replace Gov. Henry McMaster, who endorsed Evette in February as the candidate to carry on his legacy.

Evette campaigned hard in favor of the White House-requested effort to redraw South Carolina’s congressional voting lines in an effort to flip the state’s only blue seat.

Evette, who campaigns on her alignment with Trump, told legislators they need to do what the president’s asking.

The president “has made his expectations unmistakable. There is no more time for hesitation or half measures,” she told a House subcommittee. “We must finish this redistricting work now, by any means necessary.”

That weeks-long push ended Tuesday, as record numbers of voters turned out on the first day of early voting, many to show their disapproval of the proposed mid-election overhaul. In the end, 14 GOP senators voted with Democrats to kill the bill.

That vote came two weeks after senators rejected putting redistricting on the agenda for the off-session, despite Trump calling legislators personally and calling in to a GOP caucus meeting. McMaster’s May 14 order, issued minutes after the regular session ended, brought legislators back to debate it anyway.

In a social media response, Evette thanked the president for his support.

“Your walk down that golden escalator is what propelled me into politics,” she wrote. “You showed what a businessperson can do to make America Great Again. I am incredibly grateful for your support and will never let you down.”

The Evette campaign did not immediately respond to messages left by the SC Daily Gazette.

Trump, in his post, went on to say Evette had been the only one of the six candidates to endorse him at the launch of his 2024 presidential bid.

“She crisscrossed South Carolina and other States for me, and I said, at the time, that this is truly something which I cannot forget!” he wrote.

Evette has been presenting herself as the Trump-endorsed candidate even without his official backing, causing her opponents to cry foul at her campaign marketing.

In September, Mace demanded Evette and all TV stations take down an Evette ad she called false advertising. That criticism has only intensified.

But Mace, who received Trump’s endorsement in her 2024 re-election campaign for the 1st District, has also touted a Trump connection.

After Trump endorsed Evette, Mace wrote that didn’t change her support for him.

“I have enormous respect for President Trump and everything he has done for our country and for South Carolina. That respect is genuine and it is unchanged,” Mace wrote in a statement, before suggesting it was her demands for the release of all files involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that “put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line.”

“I did not come into politics to be liked. I came to deliver,” she added. “If this is the price of an endorsement, I will never pay it. South Carolina deserves a Governor who answers to her people, not to the establishment, and not to anyone who believes accountability is negotiable.”

Trump’s endorsement of Evette came as his 2024 GOP rival, former Gov. Nikki Haley, posted on social media why she voted Friday for Norman.

Norman, a close Haley ally when he was in the state House, backed her bid for president over Trump.

Haley, who left the governor’s office to become Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations, lost Republican support as she opposed her former boss as the last Republican still challenging his 2024 nomination. She stayed in the presidential race even after losing her home state’s primary. It wasn’t until the Republican National Convention in July 2024 that she fully endorsed him in a speech to show a united party.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.