South Carolina voters weigh Trump-backed candidates in key primary races

South Carolina Republicans turned Tuesday’s primaries into a direct measure of Donald Trump’s pull, with the governor’s race and the U.S. Senate contest both filled with candidates eager to show their loyalty to the former president. The state’s open governor’s race, the first in 16 years, and Lindsey Graham’s bid for a fifth term created two high-stakes tests inside one of the nation’s reddest states.

Gov. Henry McMaster is term-limited, and South Carolina will choose its Republican governor nominee in the primary. If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff is set for June 23, with the general election scheduled for Nov. 3. Democrats have not won the governorship since Jim Hodges beat David Beasley in 1998, underscoring how decisively the GOP primary usually shapes the final outcome.

Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in the Republican governor primary, while several rivals worked to present themselves as the most credible Trump-aligned alternative. At an SCETV debate in the final stretch, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Josh Kimbrell took part, while Evette, Attorney General Alan Wilson and businessman Rom Reddy skipped it. Kimbrell ended his gubernatorial bid on June 4 but remained on the ballot, adding another layer of uncertainty to the race’s closing days.

Turnout suggested Republicans were still engaged. Early voting ended Friday after more than 318,600 ballots were cast statewide during the primary period, a record-breaking total that gives the party a strong early signal heading into the fall. The question now is whether that energy reflects broad enthusiasm for Trump-backed candidates or a narrower rush to settle intraparty fights before November.

The Senate race offers the clearest national marker. Graham, first elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2008, 2014 and 2020, is seeking his fifth term. He faces a crowded field that includes Mark Lynch, Calvin Cowen, Darius Mitchell, Thomas Dismukes and Patrick Herrmann on the Republican side, and Annie Andrews, Brandon Brown and Kyle Freeman among Democrats. A candidate tracker listed 18 total Senate candidates and about $18.3 million raised across the field, including roughly $11.7 million on the Republican side and $6.6 million among Democrats. In South Carolina, the size of the field and the intensity of the Trump alignment fight made the primaries less a routine nomination contest than a test of who controls the Republican brand heading into November.