♪ Gavin Jackson> Welcome to "This Week in South Carolina".

I'm Gavin Jackson.

This week we continue our look at election 2026.

And there have been major developments in the governor's race since our post Labor Day show, including on the Republican side, a running mate announcement, a major endorsement, ad buys, robust fundraising, candidate forums, and three of the five candidates alternating among the top spots in polling, which continues to find a plurality of voters remain undecided.

And as of the end of February, with just over three months until the June 9th primary, President Donald Trump has not endorsed any of the five.

On the Democratic side, a second candidate has entered the race with the official two week filing period for all candidates opening March 16th.

I talked with AP national politics reporter Meg Kinnard on the latest.

But first, we have a brief update on developments from the gubernatorial campaign trail, along with some insight from Winthrop University political science professor Dr.

Scott Huffmon, starting off with the impact of Governor Henry McMaster's endorsement of his Lieutenant Governor, Pamela Evette.

>> Well, you know, we did a poll a while back when we were just testing name recognition, and in an overwhelming majority of Republicans said and endorsed from Trump would carry a whole lot of weight.

Well, McMaster, of course, is a favorite of Trump.

He was the first statewide official, elected official to endorse Trump the first time around.

And of course, we know how Trump helped him become governor.

So we're not sure if we can say an endorsement from McMaster is almost as good a silver compared to a gold, for Evette.

And if it's a first step to an endorsement from Trump.

But it means a lot.

And so the polling that we're going to see after that endorsement is going to tell us how much weight McMaster carries among the potential voters.

>> Ladies and gentlemen, it is a thrill for, for me and for Peggy to be here to urge you.

We want to endorse Pam for our next governor, urge you to get behind her.

Be sure we have to keep winning.

South Carolina has been winning, winning.

We need to keep winning with Pamela Evette as our next governor.

Thank you.

(applause) Lt.

Gov.

Pamela Evette> The biggest thing I've learned from the governor is that communication, cooperation and collaboration means a lot.

And you can see, because we've had win after win here in South Carolina and success after success, working alongside with the General Assembly to get things done.

That's what the people of South Carolina expect.

That's what they're used to.

And that's how we've continued to grow and be the powerhouse that we are.

Gavin> The event was a made for TV moment that also prompted a new ad from the Evette campaign that dropped this week.

Donald Trump> Another Warrior is here, Lieutenant Governor, Pamela Evette.

Narrator> bringing President Trump's agenda to South Carolina.

Pamela Evette Pres.

Trump> Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette.

She's fantastic.

Narrator> Banning sanctuary cities, defending life and the Second Amendment, protecting women's sports, and now endorsed by Governor Henry McMaster.

Gov.

Henry McMaster> We'll keep winning with Pamela Evette as our next governor.

Narrator> Business leader, America First Conservative.

Pamela Evette for governor.

Pres.

Trump> Your lieutenant governor is going places.

You do know that, right?

Gavin> The same day as McMaster's endorsement, Attorney General Alan Wilson dropped his first campaign ad.

Narrator> When the far left Democrats came after Alan Wilson, they didn't count on him having the courage to fight back.

AG Alan Wilson> When I defended President Trump in late 2020, after the election was over, I had over 30 complaints filed against me to take my bar license.

It took me four years of defending myself from people who were on the far left, who were trying to take my livelihood, prevent me from being your attorney general because I had the guts to stand up for our president.

But that's the kind of courage you need as Governor.

Alan Wilson, courage under fire.

A fighter for South Carolina.

Gavin> In January, Wilson became the first candidate to announce his running mate, car dealer and Florence Republican Senator Mike Reichenbach, who has represented the Pee Dee county since 2022.

>> And we will work for affordability, for families, profitability for businesses and stability for our communities because all the winds, the winds of great infrastructure, it's important.

Great jobs, it's important.

Workforce development, education, those are all so important.

But if people don't feel safe, if they don't feel safe, it doesn't matter nearly as much.

Scott> Alan Wilson, the narrative around him has very much been defined by Nancy Mace's attacks on him.

And this is one way, you know, making proactive moves that he can reclaim the narrative.

And he's going to have to continue to do that, because I don't see attacks against him abating any time soon.

His family name is so well known.

He's going to be a primary target.

And that includes, I think, when Ralph Norman, really gets in the race.

So it's a way of taking back the narrative, when you make announcements in the way Alan Wilson has.

Rep.

Ralph Norman> Those who are claiming to be conservative have just switched.

We're going to call them out on it.

Now, this is what separates me from really every other candidate in this race.

I will try to work with the legislature, but bottom line, we're going to get our infrastructure fixed.

We're going to get our education fixed, a dollar ought to follow the child, and We're going to get the judicial, the way we select judges.

We're always 1 of 2 states.

Now, if they go along, fine.

If they don't go along, we're going to have a debate in every city and every county.

And I will tell you how they vote, not what they say.

They're all nice people, just like everybody running.

We just have a difference of opinion on how to bring this state forward.

Gavin> First District Congress- woman Nancy Mace was invited but unable to attend the candidate forum in Greenville on February 23rd, but has been using the airwaves to talk about national issues and even got a shout out last year from President Donald Trump at an event Evette also attended.

Pres.

Trump> Nancy Mace, Where's Nancy?

She's something.

Oh, are you a believer in what we're doing, Nancy?

Nancy takes it on right from the start, right?

Would you like to say something?

Would you like to say we're doing the right thing?

(inaudible speech) Good.

Good.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Nancy.

(applause) Gavin> While not all of Mace's press has been flattering, she continues to roll out initiatives she wants to implement as governor.

Like for all candidates, many issues they want to tackle would require legislative support.

>>...work with the legislature.

I mean, I, I would work with them on drafting bills.

We'd have weekly meetings on what we're working on to implement this agenda, finding what the challenges are.

I would be very involved.

I'm very hands on.

I don't even have a chief of staff like we have, like, in my offices, in every race I've run.

I'm a very flat organization, and I like to be involved legislatively with policy, but also use the bully pulpit.

But in a way that is constructive, not in a way that is detrimental to what's happening.

As you saw yesterday, I called out Senate Judiciary.

And I think people will get excited about what I'm proposing and the pressure from the bully pulpit that I have, but also the people of South Carolina educating them on what's going on and what's not happening.

I think could be very exciting.

And we've seen the ability of people to come together and really get things done.

Gavin> Spartanburg Senator Josh Kimbrell, who has raised a little money and consistently polls last in the field, spoke at the Greenville event.

>> The reality is, the question is, are you going to stand with the status quo or you trying to disrupt the status quo?

And this goes back to what I said in my opening answer with you.

There's one or two ways to do this.

You can go in and say, I'm going to burn the house down, I'm going to burn it all to the ground.

Okay.

Good luck.

You're not going to pass anything.

You've got to work from the inside out.

So there's a lot of good people in the legislature.

I see a lot of them in the audience today who are reform minded folks.

You've got to be able to push your reform agenda.

It's one thing to scream at the wind, pitch a fit, object to everything.

I object sometimes when I need to, but you've got to be able to advance policy legislation.

There is no substitute for victory.

General MacArthur said, and having legislative experience does not hurt, because that's where most of the change is going to come from.

Gavin> On the Democratic side, Richland County Representative Jermaine Johnson jumped in the race in late October.

>> Rural hospitals are closing down.

Individuals are dealing with so many problems right now.

South Carolina has over 600 unsolved murders, just since 2020 alone.

We are in trouble in this state.

We are dealing with so many problems that we have not seen.

We know that in South Carolina for 22 years, this state has been under a single party Republican rule, and its most recent session, a supermajority in the House and a supermajority in the Senate.

Gavin> Johnson is a consultant, a married father of four, and has been an outspoken House member since being elected in 2020.

He also delivered the Democratic message in response to Governor McMaster's final State of the State address in January.

Mullins McLeod, a Charleston lawyer, declared his candidacy in August with a focus on cleaning up Columbia.

He faces calls from the party to drop out following his disorderly conduct arrest last May, something his lawyer has called a mental health episode.

Charleston police dashcam footage of the incident shows McLeod incoherently rambling, making accusations using vulgar words and threats against state and federal lawmakers.

>> But you see, servant leadership is a different type of leadership.

It requires sacrifice.

And that's exactly what I'm willing to do, because I believe the people of South Carolina deserve a government, that belongs to them and nobody else.

I believe the people of South Carolina deserve a governor who will do their bidding all day, every day and twice on Sunday.

And I believe the people of South Carolina deserve a government cannot be bought at any price.

Gavin> Joining me now is AP national politics reporter, Meg Kinnard to discuss the latest on the campaign trail here in South Carolina.

Meg, welcome back.

Always good to see you.

Meg Kinnard> It's so good to be back.

Gavin> Now, I know you are a national politics reporter.

So you are covering everything D.C.

and the rest of the country, but you are based here in South Carolina, which we cherish.

We love that because, you know the state so well.

Meg> I'm never leaving.

Never leaving.

Gavin> To that effect, you are covering the governor's race a good bit as well.

You were at that announcement with Governor Henry McMaster last week, where he endorsed Lieutenant Governor Pam Evette I want to ask you.

We were both there.

I want to ask you what you thought about that announcement and how big of a difference you think that will make on the campaign trail, this five way, five way race that we're looking at right now.

Meg> Yeah.

I mean, we're just now, even though we've been talking about this for a very long time.

We're just now entering that space where voters are sort of starting to pay attention.

And so for the lieutenant governor to be getting this endorsement from McMaster.

It's really only second to the President Donald Trump endorsement that they're all competing for.

And so for the lieutenant governor, this is an opportunity for her to say, "Okay, so we all know how closely "the governor and the president are aligned.

"Now, the governor's with me."

Just kind of leave that there and let people deduce from that what they want to in terms of maybe she'll get that presidential endorsement.

We have no idea if that's going to happen, if he'll endorse anybody or whom.

But at least for lieutenant governor, this is a moment where she gets some momentum.

She gets to continue what she's already been doing, which is showing a lot of imagery of herself with the governor and President Donald Trump, all three together, and just letting voters draw their own conclusions from that support.

But she does officially have the governor's support, and so that gives her a boost.

Filing is still not even happening yet.

We're not quite there.

Gavin> March 16th.

>> Right.

We're still, we're still early, but at least for now, that gives her a moment to kind of plant that flag and say, all right, I've got a heavyweight behind me in this race that has been very competitive and it's only going to get noisier.

Gavin> And Pam Evette announced back in July when a lot of folks were announcing last summer.

It was interesting that the governor didn't maybe come out immediately in support of her.

I mean, it was kind of always a foregone conclusion, in my opinion, because the man picked her twice to be his running mate.

You don't not support someone.

So, of course, he has ties to other people in the field.

But, <Sure> it's kind of hand in glove there.

Meg> And that's something we heard from the governor a lot.

I mean, you know, when people would repeatedly ask him, like, are you going to support her?

Whom else would you support?

He's like, I picked her twice as my running mate, you know?

And she referenced that as we heard.

And so we kind of felt like this might be coming.

And certainly if he weren't going to support her, then why did he choose her as his running mate.

For the first time,, they could ever actually be running mates on that ticket back in 2018, and then when he ran for a second term.

So we kind of figured that this was coming.

But in a governor's race that, at least on the Republican side, has been kind of like there have been a lot of attacks and some personality conflicts that have kind of propelled the news cycles around the coverage of that, for there to be something substantive, we're starting to see those moves with Alan Wilson picking a running mate, with Pam Evette getting this endorsement from the governor.

And so, you know, maybe we're getting now into a little bit more substantive coverage there.

Gavin> Yeah and those policy rollouts, you know, are always so interesting at the same time, because we know that the governor doesn't have too much control over what happens in the state.

<Right> I did like your McMaster almost full impression right there.

(laughs) But to that end, Meg, you were talking about President Donald Trump and his critical endorsement.

We have seen him endorse Senator Lindsey Graham, who's up for reelection this year, and most recently, Cody Simpson, who used to work for the governor, get endorsed for his Ag Commission bid that he just announced this week, too.

So we know that the president is here, playing in some South Carolina politics, which makes me wonder the timing of that endorsement.

And then also just how defining of an endorsement that will be, because I'm thinking back to, you know, the Sarah Palin, you know, endorsement of Nikki Haley in 2010, how that just blew the field out.

You were covering that.

You know that.

So it seems like we're that's always the big thing in South Carolina politics is who are these national figures endorsing and what that means down ballot.

Meg> Absolutely.

They've all been trying to tie themselves to President Donald Trump in talking about how electing XYZ candidate as governor here would continue, the Trump policies in South Carolina.

And we've been hearing that throughout all of the GOP primary.

The timing of it is something interesting.

And for those of us who've covered President Trump for a long time, we know that he picks his spots.

And he also likes for there to be that protracted waiting game when his endorsement is still in the offing.

And we haven't gotten that Truth social push telling us exactly what's going on, because that's inevitably how it always happens.

It's not like there's a big event and it's a surprise.

Like we, we get it telegraphed beforehand.

And so with the primary not happening until later this summer, I think that we're going to see a bit of a drag out in terms of exactly who's going to get it.

Certainly, there's a lot of theories as to like, I was just talking about McMaster.

Does Trump follow thereafter?

But we also know that President Donald Trump doesn't like for there to be expectations placed on him.

And so just because someone has done something and he's allied with that person, he still gets the attention on him if he doesn't give it quite yet.

Gavin> And to that effect, too.

I mean, you're talking about, the governor being in his ear, a bit being so close to him, being with us early, one of the first early endorsers of Trump back in 2016.

We also know that Senator Lindsey Graham is very close to the president, too.

And there's a lot going on now in the world in terms of international conflicts and entanglements that we find ourselves in, especially with what's going on in Iran and what we saw in Venezuela earlier this year.

So I would also think that Graham, who is a McMaster guy, and if you want to correlate that with support for Pam, he has not endorsed her.

I don't know if, if people want Lindsey Graham's endorsement, per se, as much as, he is a figure, his popularity is not as strong as folks like Tim Scott or the governor.

But if you kind of correlate that, I would wonder if maybe Lindsey is also talking to the president and being like, well, you know, 'If you want to do this, here's who I would pick.'

Meg> He does spend an awful lot of time with the president, both professionally and personally, as we know, from golfing and taking trips.

And Senator Graham is down in Florida a good bit, down at Mar-A-Lago and playing golf with the president in other places.

So I'm sure that those conversations are happening for sure.

We do know from a lot of years past that President Trump does rely on Senator Graham for advice from time to time, and Graham has talked about how he feels that he has this space where he's able to kind of give Donald Trump a sense of the temperature of what's happening outside of Washington or outside of Mar-A-Lago, and in more of real America.

Gavin> Senator Graham is facing some primary challengers.

We have seen him, faced challenges in the past just to win outright in the primary without even going to a runoff.

He has, I think, around like $14 million in the bank.

He was in the Oval Office the other day, talking about immigration issues.

And then that news clip on Fox became a campaign ad there in that week.

I saw and was like, "Didn't that just happened on Monday?"

I mean, we're seeing that Graham machine kind of come, full bear right now.

So I'm wondering what you think about the Senate race and how much you're paying attention if we, if Senator Graham is that worried about possibly being, you know, primaried or into a runoff with someone else?

Meg> I don't think that Senator Graham or his outfit are worried.

I do think that they are going to be cautious and be smart.

He's been doing politics for a long time, as have the people on his team.

And so they kind of understand the timeline in the cadence of when you want to peak during an election cycle and with an active primary.

You're right.

He still Senator Graham still does have to face opponents on the Republican side of things before it gets to the general election.

And so getting through those moments and continuing to from the political strategist point of view, stay on message, but also be able to, from the senator point of view, adapt to what's happening on the international scale, where Senator Graham remains very involved.

That's some of his main issues involved global strategy.

So, kind of putting all of those things together is something that they're always going to have to consider.

But I've covered Lindsey Graham for a long time.

So have you.

We know that in an election year when he is facing reelection, we tend to see a lot more of the red meat Lindsey Graham come out, particularly when it comes to foreign policy, global strategy.

With all of the international conflicts that are happening right now, we are going to hear a lot more from Lindsey Graham advocating for himself by way of advocating for Trump administration policies on that scale.

And I bet we're going to see a lot more of that coming into more TV and digital ads too.

Gavin> Which can also hurt him in some ways, too, because people have seen too much time in these international conflicts instead of back home in South Carolina.

Meg> That's exactly what Republicans have been saying about President Donald Trump even in recent polling.

So that is another place where they have to kind of wade through.

Gavin> To which he's also brought home a lot of money, too, in terms of earmarks, which people have problems with as well, but, you know, it's one thing or the other.

Meg> Always a double edged sword.

Gavin> But, Meg, let's go back to the governor's race.

When we're looking at polling, it's kind of been wide open.

There's been scant polling here and there where you have, Lieutenant Governor Pam Evette, Attorney General Alan Wilson, and First District Congresswoman Nancy Mace all kind of jostling between that first position, but in the top three, pretty much.

Then you have Congressman Ralph Norman and then also state Senator Josh Kimbrell, who are always kind of in the fourth and fifth place standings, There's some wondering, but then there's a like 30% undecided.

Meg> Undecided still wins every time.

Gavin> Still beating everyone in that field.

<Everytime> And I'm wondering, you know, from what you've seen before, how that shakes out.

I mean, I think we're talking about, you know, spending money on ads.

We saw Attorney General Alan Wilson drop his first ad, which came the same day as that endorsement from McMaster for Evette.

So we're seeing that kind of play out.

<Right.> I'm wondering just how they need to break through.

What's going to happen?

We have debates coming up soon.

People are starting to pay attention more, I'm guessing.

So what needs to happen for those 30% undecided voters to get off the sidelines and get engaged?

Meg>...like we were just talking about these primary campaigns particularly are all about moments.

And so being able to leverage a moment when it comes your way or a bad moment that comes for one of your opponents, and trying to figure out how to boost yourself off of that.

You can't predict what those moments are all the time.

Sometimes they come by way of endorsements.

So whenever, if we do see that President Donald Trump endorsement, that will mark a major moment.

We also know he likes to pick winners.

And so it's rare that he wades into a super close race.

So that's part of why I don't think that we're going to see that right now, given where the public opinion polling is.

But with these debates, that'll be an opportunity for the candidates to really draw any lines of contrast that they can.

We've talked before about how the policy rollouts we see from a lot of these Republicans are very similar, and even a lot of the other non policy...releases that they put out are pretty much saying the same thing a lot of times.

And so maybe in debates that will have a chance to really show voters, okay, here's what's different about me.

Here's the kind of experience that I singularly bring to the table here.

And then I think it is really just going to be a long road ahead.

So buckle up, because we got a lot of time left.

Gavin> And to that end, too, we're seeing some differentiation happening in terms of running mates, too.

You mentioned that Attorney General Alan Wilson picking state senator Mike Reichenbach of Florence as his running mate.

That was early on.

I haven't seen anything much from the Evette camp yet, but there's a lot of whispers.

We're not going to speculate here.

We're going to wait.

But I'm also wondering too, for her.

You know, she's been on the McMaster team for so long.

If she's really trying to earn this on her own versus declaring before the primary.

There's a lot of "strategery."

if we can use that word.

Meg> Of course we can.

Of course we can.

Gavin> So it's going to be fun to see how that plays out.

...what do you make of, Attorney General Alan Wilson already kind of coming out of the gate early in January with that decision to announce a running mate?

Meg> I mean, previously when I've covered campaigns that make a move just like that, aside from perhaps the McMaster campaign, since when he was running, like we talked about in 2018, that was the first time that the ticket was really a thing here in South Carolina.

But in other campaigns, in other gubernatorial campaigns or presidential campaigns, oftentimes when you see someone putting forth a running mate very early, they're looking for one of those moments, those bumps, those attention grabbing situations where they can say, I'm already thinking about the ways that I would govern in this situation, and this is the person that I would like on my team.

And also, by the way, maybe they represent a different geography in the state or a different constituency that I can add up to mine.

And then hopefully boost myself in the eyes of voters "writ large."

So I think that's probably what we're seeing.

I don't think that there's any need for the lieutenant governor to be rushing forward with a running mate, because you're absolutely right.

She is trying to show South Carolina that she wants to continue the success of governor McMaster, but she wants to be the leader in that role.

And so voters still need an opportunity to consider herself as an individual candidate, not just the governor's running mate before she starts to pick her own.

Gavin> Yeah, because Wilson's been around much longer than Evette has.

But at the same time, it kind of brings back again.

You were mentioning how McMaster was the first governor to be able to pick their running mate...in 2018.

And then suddenly we saw with, you know, Nikki Haley and McMaster, right.

When McMaster did make that runoff back in 2010, and he immediately turned around and endorsed Nikki Haley.

Then he became her running mate eventually, his, her lieutenant governor.

So it's interesting to see how that works out and how, again, McMaster knows really kind of where political winds go.

I mean, we talk about Trump in 2016, Haley in 2010, and maybe his luck will continue with his running mate going forward, but- Meg>-You just never know.

Gavin> Now I want to pick up and go to the first Congressional District race because it has gotten attention from the D triple C in terms of it being a competitive race in their eyes, even though the district went 57% for Trump in 2024, it has been redistricted to be more conservative.

This is not your 2018 Joe Cunningham Democrat district flip of 40 years.

I'm not going to make you name all the candidates on both sides, because I don't think we have an exhaustive list yet.

We're going to wait till filing really closes.

<Yeah.> because there are a lot on both sides.

And a lot of people saying one thing or the other.

How do you read the first Congressional District, especially when you see ratings from different, news agencies and folks versus what you're hearing from the D, triple C, what people are hoping or wishing for down there.

Meg> It's certainly of the districts that we have, aside from Congressman Clyburn's district, but of the Republican held districts, it's the one that's most attractive to Democrats.

They would love to have that back in their hands.

It hasn't happened since Joe Cunningham.

You noted there has been Republican leaning redistricting that makes it a safer hold, basically for the party.

But it's still the one that Democrats would like to have.

And, I mean, there are a lot of districts that they would like to have, but in a circumstance heading into these midterms where there are some more closely divided districts across the country, yes, D trip may be putting some resources here, but I don't think it's going to be one of their number ones when there are other places where they really do have a much better chance to not just chip away at Republicans lead in the House, but to perhaps take over for Democrats after these midterm elections.

So I think we're going to see some attention, I don't think it's the level of attention that the Democrats vying for that seat would love to have, because ultimately, they're not really going to be as competitive as some of those districts in other places.

Gavin> Yeah, and we'll get through that primary in June and see what the general looks like and how that might play in people's favor in that map and, resources going forward.

But Meg, just wrapping up, when you look at the national environment here too, we were just kind of mentioning that we have always talked about this like South Carolina is not North Carolina.

It's not Georgia.

It's solidly red to the detriment of some folks who wish to see it differently.

<Sure> That's just the way it adds up.

So how do you see possible national politics trickling down to the midterms?

You know, we also have the fifth Congressional District race, which is wide open, since Ralph Norman is running for governor.

It seems like State Senator Wes Climer, is going to be the dominant force there, Republican in that case.

But that's about it in terms of how things are going.

Everything else is pretty much incumbents, and not a foregone conclusion, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles most of the time.

But how do you see national politics, whether it affects these open congressional races or the governor's race affecting or not affecting how this goes forward?

Meg> I still think we're going to be hearing a lot of that from all the candidates who are pursuing these races here, whether they be Republican or Democratic.

I would imagine, especially from the Democrats, you will hear in their campaign stump speeches and messaging, the consternation with the level of what they would characterize as inaction on the behalf of Congress, right now.

It has been closely divided.

There have been a lot of long debates.

There have been several shutdowns since there was a recent- Gavin> You just were telling... I wondered.

Meg> -as we speak.

So I think that's what you're going to hear a lot of from Democrats blaming Republicans for those situations.

And on the behalf of Republicans, their argument is going to be, "Well, if you would like to avoid some "of this intransigence in the House, "then give us a bigger majority" It's not necessarily going to really matter in terms of South Carolina, since those seats are currently held by Republicans, That doesn't mean we're not going to hear about it in terms of send me back to Washington or send me to Washington and show that there is more of a Republican mandate.

And also, if we're able to keep control of Congress, that will enable us as a body to further enact policies that Donald Trump wants to bring down to them from the White House.

And so that'll be certainly some of the arguments that we're hearing.

Gavin> A lot to watch.

AP National politics reporter Meg Kinnard.

Thank you.

Meg> Of course.

Thank you.

♪ Gavin> For South Carolina ETV, I'm Gavin Jackson.

Be well South Carolina.

♪ ♪ ♪