President Trump gives coveted endorsement in SC governor’s race. Here’s his pick
In a Friday evening post, President Donald Trump backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette’s campaign, the highly sought after endorsement in the race for the Republican nomination for South Carolina governor.
The endorsement was shared on Truth Social.
“Pam Evette is a good friend, fighter and winner and will be a terrific governor of South Carolina,” Trump wrote.
Evette has made her loyalty to Trump the centerpiece of her campaign for governor.
She has pointed out she was the only candidate in the GOP race to stand with Trump when he returned to South Carolina for a January 2023 rally at the State House. She also said Trump’s name 14 times in her kickoff speech.
The primary is June 9.
“Your walk down that golden escalator is what propelled me into politics,” Evette posted on social media. “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.”
In the president’s social media post, Trump also foreshadowed who he thinks will be Evette’s running mate: the current governor’s son Henry McMaster Jr., a Columbia attorney.
McMaster has been a staunch ally of Trump since 2016 when the then-lieutenant governor endorsed the New York real estate developer in his first presidential run.
The endorsement eventually led to McMaster ascending to the chief executive’s office and becoming the longest serving governor in state history.
McMaster, who is backing his lieutenant governor’s campaign, in a statement Friday evening said he was proud to see Evette receive the president’s backing.
“Pamela Evette has worked every day to help move South Carolina forward,” McMaster said. “She has fought for our businesses and families, and she has earned the trust of leaders across the country.”
Trump’s endorsement came on the night South Carolina Democrats gathered ahead of their annual convention, and at the end of a week when the state Senate rejected a plan to redraw the state’s congressional maps. The rejected map was intended to oust the lone Democratic member of South Carolina’s federal delegation, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.
Trump won the South Carolina GOP presidential primary in 2016 and 2024, the latter of which he defeated the state’s former Gov. Nikki Haley.
He also carried the state in all three general elections he appeared on the ballot.
Trump’s support is seen as key in GOP nomination fights. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was endorsed by Trump, defeated U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for that state’s GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Trump backed seven state Senate primary challengers in Indiana after that chamber opted against middecade redistricting efforts pushed by the president. Six of those challengers won.
After Trump’s endorsement Friday, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who was among Evette’s rivals for the nomination, conceded she may have lost out on the endorsement because of her push to release the Epstein files.
“I demanded it because you deserved the truth — all of it — and as a survivor, I had to get justice for these women. If this is the price of an endorsement, I will never pay it,” Mace said in a news release. “South Carolina deserves a Governor who answers to her people, not to the establishment, and not to anyone who believes accountability is negotiable.”
Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is also seeking the governor’s office, in a statement referenced how he signed onto election integrity cases in 2020, a move that risked his law license. He also has backed Trump’s initiatives in court.
“No one’s fought harder or risked more for President Trump and his agenda than I have,” Wilson posted on social media. I look forward to continuing to deliver real results for South Carolina families as their next governor.”
Isle of Palms businessman Rom Reddy in a social media post touted his previous financial support for Trump in the 2024 election, and reiterated he wasn’t seeking endorsements in the race.
“I felt this was between you, the voters of South Carolina and me and still believe that. I ask that you do your homework and vote your conscience in this primary,” Reddy said.
This breaking news story will be updated.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 6:26 PM with the headline "President Trump gives coveted endorsement in SC governor’s race. Here’s his pick."
