By admin 
South Carolina Republican voters will have two more weeks of listening to candidates for governor with no candidate earning a simple majority of ballots cast in Tuesday’s primary.
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Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson are set to advance to the June 23 runoff, according to Tuesday’s unofficial results. The Associated Press called Evette advancing to the runoff at 9:04 p.m., and Wilson advancing about one minute later.
Evette first-place finish comes after she received an endorsement from President Donald Trump. However, it wasn’t enough to clinch the nomination outright.
Trump called Evette and said he will do whatever it takes to help her win the runoff, per a source with knowledge of the conversation.
Wilson spoke to supporters just after the AP called the race saying he will advance to a runoff. Attendees chanted “Alan” as he took the stage.
“Two weeks is a very short turnaround,” Wilson told supporters. “We will win this race. There is energy, there is momentum and we are going to bring the heat.”
Going into Tuesday, Wilson had support among the most consistent primary voters: Those who have voted in all three of the last three GOP primaries. Turnout also is lower in a midterm election year compared to a presidential election year. He also was the leading candidate in the Columbia-area, being from Lexington County. It’s also an area where Wilson had his highest net favorability.
In the days leading up to the primary, Wilson was publicly backed by state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who ended his run for governor last week after never gaining traction in the race.
On Monday, Wilson told reporters he and his campaign were prepared for the two-week runoff.
“We have a plan in place, we have obviously our supporters are ready to go,” Wilson said. “We’re going to be flush with cash. We’re going to be able to get our message out, and we’re going to hit the ground running first thing Wednesday morning.”
After making the runoff, Evette immediately went into attack mode against Wilson.
“We’re going to highlight a very clear contrast between myself and a career politician, Alan Wilson,” said Evette, who is in her second term as lieutenant governor under Gov. Henry McMaster.
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Supporters who gathered in Greenville chanted “Let’s go Pam!” during her remarks.
Evette described Wilson as a “finger-in-the-wind career politician” who “won’t take a stand and who does the political thing and not the right thing.”
“If you want a business leader, a CEO and someone who has spent their career outside of politics, I’m asking for your vote,” Evette said. “If you want a Trump-endorsed, steel-spine conservative, then join our team.”
It is the first time since 2010 that the governor’s race is wide open with no incumbent running for the seat.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and businessman Rom Reddy were knocked out of the race.
According to the Post and Courier, Nancy Mace conceded she lost and immediately endorsed Wilson in the race. Last year Mace had been critical of Wilson in the handling of an investigation against her ex-fiance. That case is still under investigation by SLED and has not been sent to the attorney general’s office.
Norman told supports he expects to finish in third place.
“Looks like we’ve come up a little bit short … The odds of this working out may not work out,” Norman said.
Norman has not decided whether he will make an endorsement in the presumptive runoff between Evette and Wilson, he told a McClatchy reporter shortly before 10 p.m. On his own political future after this apparent loss, Norman said that after eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives it was “time to come home.” “I believe in term limits,” he said.
But asked if he’ll ever run for office again, Norman said, “I never rule anything out.” “I enjoy being with people. I enjoy the political arena and being involved,” he said. “But right now I have no plans.”
Joseph Bustos reported from Greenville, Mary Ramsey reported from Rock Hill, Lucy Valeski reported from Columbia, and Olivia Sisson reported from Hopkins.
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