Alan Wilson wins South Carolina GOP governor runoff, will face Jermaine Johnson

Alan Wilson won South Carolina’s Republican runoff for governor on Tuesday, defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and securing the GOP nomination in the state’s first open governor’s race since 2010. The Associated Press called the race at 4:26 p.m., a result that sends Wilson into the November 3 general election against Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson.

The runoff exposed the state GOP’s competing power centers. Donald Trump first endorsed Evette in the June 9 primary, then added Wilson in a late co-endorsement after Wilson showed momentum heading into the runoff. Evette also had the backing of outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster, while Wilson ran with the strength of the attorney general’s office and the national profile he built overseeing the prosecution of Alex Murdaugh. Neither side’s backing proved decisive on its own, and Wilson’s victory suggested that Trump’s endorsement, even when split, could be absorbed by a candidate with established statewide credentials.

Evette led the June 9 primary with about 29% of the vote, while Wilson finished second with about 26%, forcing the two into a head-to-head runoff because no candidate cleared 50%. The field also included U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, both eliminated before the runoff, underscoring how narrowly focused the final contest became once the broader primary fractured.

Wilson, 52, has served as South Carolina’s attorney general since 2011 and is the son of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson. His win now places him at the center of a general election in a state where Republicans have held the governor’s office for more than a quarter-century. South Carolina has not elected a Democrat for governor since 1998, and with McMaster term-limited, the race had become the clearest opening in years for both parties to test their strength.

Johnson said the Republican runoff outcome does not change his campaign’s focus heading into the fall. That sets up a matchup that will pair Wilson’s statewide name recognition and Republican infrastructure against a Democratic challenger in a state where the GOP enters November heavily favored.