♪ > Welcome to " This Week in South Carolina, " I'm Gavin Jackson.

This week we continue our coverage of election 2026 with a focus on the two candidates running for governor, Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson and Democratic State Representative Jermaine Johnson of Richland County.

The two are seeking to replace outgoing governor and our longest serving governor, Henry McMaster, who will have served ten years when his term ends in early January.

McMaster became governor after then Governor Nikki Haley was confirmed to be President Donald Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations in 2017.

Attorney General Alan Wilson sat down for our third one-on-one this cycle, and I opened our discussion by asking him about what life would be like between November 4th and Inauguration Day if he wins on November 3rd.

> Well, first off, you've got 71 days, I think if I've done the math right, between the fourth and the 13th of January, when the inauguration takes place.

And during that time you have to assemble your staff and your leadership team, you have to assemble your cabinet agencies, right?

And then you have to go ahead and propose your budget to the General Assembly, which five days after the governor's sworn in, is the budget proposal.

Obviously, the current administration's handling that now.

So there's gonna be a lot of adapting.

And I'm obviously gonna be sitting down with legislative leaders to talk about my budget priorities and also my legislative priorities.

And if I'm being honest with you, I'm already having those conversations.

Hypothetically, I'm telling people, "If we win, these are the things that I'm gonna want to focus on and these are things that I'm interested in doing."

And I'm sure the other team is doing the same thing.

You can't wait until November 4th or the night of November 3rd to start doing these things.

You have to be anticipating the hypothetical reality that you could be getting the reins of government.

So we've already started doing that.

Gavin> When you talk about organizing your cabinet, have you thought about, you know, keeping some agency heads on through maybe the first couple months or legislative session just for continuity purposes?

Or how do you look about organizing your cabinet right now?

A.G.

Wilson> So what I'm gonna do is, is I'm gonna give every single, I'm gonna open up the application process for every cabinet agency.

There will be cabinet directors and secretaries who I will say, "If you want to stay on with us, submit your application, submit a letter of intent to want to stay."

But there's gonna be an interview for every single cabinet post in our administration, and we're gonna be open to new people, but we're also gonna consider those who are currently serving.

We're gonna look at the job they're doing.

We're going to receive inputs from, you know, stakeholders in that particular position, meaning the industries that they regulate or oversee, as well as legislative input, constituent input from around the state.

But I'm gonna keep a very open mind on every single job in government.

Gavin> You'll be getting a new cabinet agency too with SCDOT with the removal of the commission.

You seem very excited about that, especially because you've talked so much about the growth, we've talked about the infrastructure needs of the state.

How big of a deal will that be to have DOT in the governor's cabinet?

A.G.

Wilson> So, you know, before there was a transportation commission, DOT commission and then they hired the executive director.

Now the governor had input on who was on the commission, but there was a bureaucratic layer between the governor and the secretary.

Now it's been vertically integrated, the governor direct line of communication to the secretary.

And I think that's good.

It also is gonna make the governor more accountable, even though the governor should already be more accountable.

I think it will hold whoever the governor is more accountable, and I like that.

I think that's a good thing for the people of South Carolina.

There's a lot of other things I want to do with DOT.

There's modernization, there's internal reforms, internal audits, and not just for DOT.

For every executive branch agency.

We're going to, what I can tell you, the one thing that we're not going to do is we're not gonna live under the status quo.

This is not to you know, to say that the way that they're doing things now is wrong.

But I tell people, you don't find transformational change sitting in the comfort zone, you're gonna find it outside the comfort box.

You got to go out.

We're going to do some big and bold things.

I do not aspire to be transitional as governor, I aspire to be transformational as governor.

Gavin> And that's something you're gonna see, your lieutenant governor kind of oversee as well <Yes> with the auditing, the families first, yeah.

But speaking of DOT, speaking of, you know, current issues right now, you've called for the suspension of the gas tax, which does bring in about 90 million dollars a month, needed money for bridges, roads across the state for construction and such.

You've also called for backfilling that lost revenue with rainy day funds, with capital reserve funds.

But when you get down to it, if that was to actually happen, how would you be able to ensure that gas station owners actually do pass that savings along to consumers when we're talking about the 28 cent gas tax?

A.G.

Wilson> Well, first off, I mean, you're gonna have market forces at play if you have people in the private sector that are keeping the prices artificially inflated, people down the street are going to undercut them by selling them at a better market price.

It's the law of supply and demand.

But with that being said, you know, my plan and what I'm suggesting that the legislature do, and look, Georgia has done it, the governor of Georgia did it, North Carolina has done it, I think Ohio has done it.

What I'm asking for is to give the governor a temporary emergency power to suspend the collection of a gas tax for a temporary period of time, and only when a triggering event occurs, like when the gas prices get 2% above the national median or whatever over a short period of time.

And then we can take that money and replace it from rainy day fund.

I'm telling people "It's pouring right now."

That's what the rainy ray fund is for.

But what people aren't thinking about, we're not just talking about the commuters like me and you.

We're talking about in the commercial industrial industries, we're talking about the agricultural arena, right?

The getting the products to the supply, getting produce from farm to market into the stores, that cost lots of money with diesel prices being as high as they are.

So it's not just the cost of gas at the pump that people are paying to put in their own cars, it's the cost of everything that we consume and use is going up.

And I believe that if you give people a little bit of relief for a temporary period of time, that they will put that back into the economy to allow them to pay their bills.

But the other thing is, I'm not asking for it to go on forever.

<How long are we thinking?> Well, I mean, we threw out the number 120 days, because if it happens in August, you need to give the governor time to give the General Assembly an opportunity to come in.

What I would suggest is whether it's 120 or 90 days or some other number, you do it for a period of time, and then it would require legislative approval to go longer.

The point is, is it's to deal with an acute crisis.

To give the governor the opportunity without having to call the legislature back in to make an executive decision that provides immediate relief to hard working families.

Gavin> So the emergency would last for four months, but you could determine how long you would want that suspension for within that time frame?

A.G.

Wilson> You wouldn't have to take it for up to 120 days.

I may do it 30 days at a time, that's what the governor of Georgia did, and he just extended it again.

You could do it month to month.

And then you could watch your rainy day fund, you could watch your surplus money, that reserve fund.

And if you feel like it's getting tight, you know, that's why the legislature needs to be a partner with the governor in this.

> Well, one issue that we did see debated last year in the legislative session was dealing with THC, hemp-derived beverages, gummies, all these things.

There's no regulation right now in this state.

Down to 18-year-olds can get these things right now at gas stations if they want.

What do you see?

What would you propose?

What would you sign into law if it got to your desk?

Do you support a full ban of these products?

Do you think they need to be regulated like alcohol?

How do you see the THC situation playing out?

> Look, I'm talking to people in the industry and I've heard some advocate for outright bans, and I've had some advocate for outright regulation.

What everyone agrees on is doing nothing is the wrong answer.

So we can eliminate doing nothing.

The status quo doesn't work.

Look at a bare minimum, I want to ensure that products that can contain these types of substances, that can be harmful or, you know, if they're unregulated, could be deadly or hurtful or harmful to the public, we want to make sure that there are guardrails in place, we wanna make sure that there's a regulatory framework predictability.

First, for the safety of the consumer and the persons in our state.

But secondly, for the business owner, you know, we don't want people putting product on their shelves and it ends up being an illegal product or a product that could get them in trouble.

We want to give predictability to everybody involved.

So at a minimum, we've got to have strong, clearly defined regulations.

Gavin> So like 21 or under?

A.G.

Wilson> Yes, how you sell them, where you sell them, what's in them.

You know, things like that.

You know, there was a, I know there's different ways to consume it.

I mean, last year there was a individual who consumed something at a gas station and had a psychotic, you know, psychotic break and ended up busting into a Chester County elementary school and grabbed, you know, a kindergartner.

And SROs had to rush to that child's defense, right?

I mean, this person was having a psychotic break because of whatever it was they ingested, wasn't what was advertised on the package.

Had there been a regulation there and a guardrail, that product wouldn't have been there.

I think this individual even bit his girlfriend's face.

So a very traumatic event for that community.

Gavin> Unregulated right now.

Yeah.

<Unregulated> We only have a couple more moments left here, Attorney General, but... Governor McMaster, Governor Nikki Haley, they were all very transparent about their schedules.

Every week they would release that to the press, they would also talk about what meetings they took the week before.

I asked other candidates before in the primary about this, they were all in support of this.

Are you in support of releasing that, keeping it transparent, also doing regular press briefings as well as we've seen from the governors.

A.G.

Wilson> Absolutely, 100%.

I mean, if I'm doing the people's business, they have a right to know what I'm doing and who I'm meeting with, If you wanna know when I get my teeth cleaned, I'll even put that on there too.

[laughter] Gavin> I might be okay with that.

But another big issue to talk about, too, data centers.

You know, this has been a big issue that has really blown up this primary, this whole midterm cycle.

Where do you come down on those when we talk about regulations, which there are none right now, there's conversations happening in the Statehouse.

No legislation went anywhere this past year.

What do you see needing to be done?

Is that more of a local issue, or do you think the states need to regulate this issue when it comes to development of those or a moratorium?

A.G.

Wilson> Well, first off, you know, let me start off by saying this, I'm always gonna support the rights of local governments to have the final say in what types of businesses, whether it's a data center or something else comes into their community.

They get the final say through their, you know, their zoning ordinances.

Property rights are important to me, I'm always gonna defend that.

With that being said, the way I look at data centers, data centers are to us today what highways and road networks were 120 years ago.

It's the infrastructure for a new technology.

120 years ago it was the automobile.

Right now, it's these iPads and tablets, it's AI, it's the world of information.

The information of things, the internet of things is powered by data centers.

So I tell folks, you know, every generation has to deal with a new evolving technology and the infrastructure to support that technology.

So in South Carolina, we have to be thoughtful.

If a community doesn't want a data center, they don't get a data center and they can stop it themselves.

But for communities who do want data centers, we can provide regulatory guardrails that protect those communities from any potential harmful environmental impacts.

We can require data centers to pay their own way, I would support that.

Produce their own energy, and possibly incentivize them to give surplus energy that they don't use themselves back to the local grid, which would increase the power on the grid, which would lower utility rates for people.

In other states, data centers have paid off property taxes for surrounding area communities, they've built schools, they have built roads, bridges, infrastructure networks for local communities.

There can be a great partnership between these types of businesses and local communities who want them.

But at the end of the day, I want to make sure local people are empowered to determine what their community looks like.

Gavin> And data centers also support flock cameras, which we've been talking about.

You just recently sent a letter dealing with that, to get more information about that data, which is those automatic license plate readers, why wait until now to do that?

And what do you see, do you think that these are good tools for law enforcement, or are you concerned about privacy rights here?

A.G.

Wilson> Well, as we've had the conversation over the last several months, I'm like, there's just so many things I don't understand or don't know about the technology.

And so we ask questions about their privacy policies, their data retention policies, their data sharing policies, their AI usage policies, and who has access to this information?

I want to understand this first, and I want people to understand it.

You know, I tell people all the time, every technology, whether it is the invention of the gun, the automobile, the internet, AI, you know, or the technology behind these flock camera systems, the technology itself is not bad.

It's just the person using it.

Now, do you ban the technology because it could be used by a bad person?

I don't think you ban the technology, but I think you put up guardrails with severe penalties for those who do abuse it.

A gun in the hand of a maniac is a deadly weapon.

The gun in the hand of a police officer can be a very useful resource and a tool to protect the community.

Same as with flock technology.

Police officers or government agents who use this technology to invade people's privacy, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and they should have a lifetime ban from ever being a police officer again and we should go after them hard.

But if your child is kidnapped or a loved one is murdered and that technology can be used by a good person with guardrails to retrieve your child within an hour, or stop a violent criminal from going somewhere to another community, do we want to say no to those agencies that could use it?

I think there's no black and white.

Guardrails with predictable outcomes, harsh penalties for those who abuse it, but let law enforcement use that technology to do the good things while punishing people who abuse that power.

> Attorney General Alan Wilson, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

<Thanks so much, appreciate it> State Representative Jermaine Johnson has represented House District 52 since 2021 and won the Democratic Party nomination outright in a field of three in June.

I was at his house recently and asked him as well, about what his transition period would look like if he won.

> Oh well, I'd start assembling my team.

You know, talking to individuals, of course, making key meetings with individuals around the state, key stakeholders and leaders.

I don't want to wait until Inauguration Day to actually start hitting the ground running.

I'm ready to start working now.

Obviously, I'll be traveling the state, talking to more constituents around here.

Just to start talking about all that stuff.

Because, you know, I don't think it's time to take a victory lap.

You know, we're in a crisis right now, and we need to make sure that we're preparing to assist the people here in South Carolina.

Gavin> When you look at assembling your cabinet, obviously these cabinet members have been appointed by Republicans over the years.

Everyone always changes up their cabinet as well.

Would you keep some of these directors around?

They're nonpolitical people, of course, but would you keep some of them around through the first couple of months, or how would you approach organizing your cabinet?

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah, it would definitely be and some of them may even stay on, you know, everybody know, like I continue to say on this campaign trail, that I'm not a hyper partisan guy.

That, you know, I'm really talking about the skills and if anybody has done a good job, then why would we get rid of somebody who's done a good job?

You know, it's time to really just start looking at people's abilities and qualities in order to help, you know, make South Carolina a better place.

Some of the things that you need to change is just, you know, different policies just need to change, or they just need to have different leadership with different priorities.

And, so I'll be looking at everybody, having those different meetings and some of those people will stay some, some will have to go.

Gavin> And the next governor will have a new cabinet agency with SCDOT moving over, the elimination of the commission, which is a huge deal, because all we've been talking about is growth and infrastructure and all those needs.

So how would you work with that agency?

As we know, those are top issues and what would you want to see there too, happening?

Obviously we've been talking about infrastructure, but how would you work with them as a cabinet agency.

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah, well, the main thing that we're seeing here is just the lack of contractors that are doing the work here in South Carolina.

So I'd be working with DOT to kind of figure out how we can help to find additional contractors around South Carolina or to encourage individuals to go into contracting so that we can get this construction underway here in South Carolina.

So, that's gonna be my main focus, is making sure that we increase the amount of people who are doing this work so we can speed up the construction of all of our roads and bridges and infrastructure here in South Carolina.

So we'll figure out who is gonna be leading that agency.

It could be the same person, we could try that out, but we'll get it done.

Gavin> And what about suspending the gas tax?

Is that something that you would be in favor of?

Do you think we need to do?

Also talking about backfilling any suspension with capital reserves because that's about 90 million dollars a month for roads and bridges.

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah.

Yeah.

So as long as we're gonna be in this war, I mean, we to look at all, you know, opportunities, to fix the situation or to ease some of the stress that the people of South Carolina are dealing with.

So, you know, if we're going to suspend the gas tax, which I'm in favor of, but we have to make sure that it is a requirement for our gas stations to pass that savings back on to the consumers.

You know, right now, you know, we're just talking about suspending the gas tax, but there's no requirement for the gas stations to pass it back on.

I would have to make it a condition of suspending the gas tax that, that savings goes directly to the consumers so they can actually get the real relief.

Gavin> Right, we're talking about 28 cents a gallon, that adds up for sure.

Since we last spoke with you, after you won the primary outright, you announced your running mate in August, I believe it was August, with Sam Skardon.

Tell us about him and why he went with Sam.

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah, well, Sam is such an amazing individual man.

He is the former chairperson for the Charleston County Democratic Party, he spent years giving access to capital for a lot of these nontraditional, you know, businesses, women owned businesses, minority owned businesses, you know, people who were trying to open up their restaurants, their barbershops.

And these are the individuals that traditional banks usually turn away.

So he's helping people to realize their version of the American dream, you know, and he understands exactly how and why South Carolina's backbone is small business.

And, I just, I appreciate his hard work that he's done for years, and I just can't wait to get him right there, hitting the ground running with me.

Gavin> And Jermaine, what would you see Sam's role being as your lieutenant governor?

Would it be more business focused?

Rep.

Johnson> It would be definitely business focused.

You know, because we have lots of big business coming to South Carolina, we have lots of manufacturers coming to South Carolina but our small businesses are suffering.

And I think our small businesses deserve a lot of these tax breaks and tax cuts that we give big business to come here to South Carolina.

So he has all of that experience working with the small business sector, providing them access to capital.

I want him to work directly in that role to help out small businesses in South Carolina.

Gavin> And we're taping this just shortly after the debate that you all had.

The only debate it seems like between you and Alan Wilson for governor, you guys had the opportunity to really talk about, you had the opportunity to question each other, which was interesting to see as a debate moderator.

Rep.

Johnson> I've never seen that before.

Gavin> I don't think I would turn that over to anyone because that's beyond my control.

But y'all behaved, of course, which was fun to see.

But, you did get to ask each other questions and he did talk to you.

His question toward you was about questioning your ability to have those partnerships, which you like to pride yourself on, because you haven't seen any legislation pass through the legislature.

Can you talk about that and your response to him about that?

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah.

Well, you know, one of the things he talked about is the bills that I've introduced and none of them becoming law.

My first bill I got passed was a tax break for seniors in South Carolina and that was passed my, you know, my first year and it passed the house, but it obviously is sitting in the Senate.

You know, it's like he thought that he was gonna get me with that question when we know that South Carolina has been holistically run by one party for 20 some odd years, and for that simple fact alone, it should let you know that, "Hey, we're not gonna give the guy who's potentially gonna be running for governor a win, like, we're not gonna let this guy be able to run on that."

We have to really look at this entire thing.

And when you are a Democrat and you want to get things done here in South Carolina, you have to be a completely selfless leader.

Meaning that you have to say, "I don't care if my name goes first or second on a piece of legislation.

I just want to get this stuff done."

And I have helped lots of legislation become law here in South Carolina.

You know, and by being the co-sponsor, by working with the Democrats to say, "Hey, listen, I need you Democrats to vote for this bill," and be primary responsible then, but work with the Republicans to say, "Hey, I need you to support this bill."

And then that's how it becomes a bipartisan piece of legislation that gets passed.

That's what I have done for six years to get bills done, to get things passed.

I work with them to even get the pool repaired right down here in my own district.

I mean, I got a bridge things right down here in my district.

I got, I helped get the Robert Smalls the statue, you know, done.

So, I mean, it's like, understand exactly what you have to do as a leader here in South Carolina.

Gavin> Which is difficult for any Democrat in the Statehouse and we see it all the time.

And you kind of do it to be selfless.

You can't always, you know, goad or, you know, brag about getting something passed because then it's gonna probably hurt you further down the line too.

<Yes> That being said, looking at the Statehouse, the House seats are 124 up for reelection this year.

Democrats have a candidate running in each one of those.

You know, from your perspective, having served in the House, do you think it's a possibility that, A. the Democrats will pick up a couple seats and B. do you think that they'll actually break the supermajority, which would require seven pickups?

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah, I truly believe that the supermajority is done in South Carolina.

I think with the turnout that we're going to see here this year, I think with the excitement, the energy, that is around here, I pretty much told the individuals in the General Assembly, I said, "Hey, listen," and this is before I was running for governor, I said, "Hey, listen, if I decide to run for governor, some of y'all are going home."

You know, I said, "Because the energy is going to be high, you know, and I recognize that people in South Carolina have been looking for a fighter.

They've been looking for somebody who's gonna speak up for them, who's gonna, you know, go to bat for them every step of the way."

And I knew I was going to be that for them.

And because I don't come from the traditional background, I'm a person who likes to get in the trenches with people to help them out.

And I told them that it was gonna happen.

So I truly believe that, you know, we're gonna break the supermajority.

I truly believe that South Carolina is gonna head in a different direction, and it's going to be beneficial to all parties in South Carolina.

Gavin> So what's your strategy been Jermaine, for this campaign?

I mean, because the fundraising has been kind of what it is.

You haven't been up on TV with advertising, but you have been out and about a lot across the state.

So tell me how you're doing, what you're doing, because it is similar to how you ran in the primaries.

And so how is that working?

I mean, it's kind of nontraditional, but you seem fully invested in it.

Rep.

Johnson> Yeah.

Well, I mean, the thing is, a lot of places here in South Carolina, they have never seen a candidate before.

They've never had anybody come campaign in their community before.

They've never even had access to somebody who was running for office before.

And that's where I've been going.

I've been going to those people.

I've been going to those communities.

I've been going to places where they have never seen somebody like me before, so that they know that they actually have a voice and that their issues are my issues.

And that I'm going to listen to what they're saying.

And that is why people are excited.

That's why you're seeing people come out, you know, that are tuning in finally.

That's why you see- <Republicans> I have lots of Republicans, lots of Republicans.

Usually you see Republicans say they're gonna do things behind the scenes.

No, they are proudly coming out saying, "I'm a part of the new SC, too."

I mean, if you go look at all the social media, you know, "I'm a part of the new SC," because the new SC is not hyper partisan.

The new SC is about going forward.

It's about having everybody getting a voice.

That's Republicans, that's Democrats, that's nonaffiliated individuals, first time voters, and they're all excited.

Gavin> So really getting away from that rhetoric that everyone seems so, that divides everyone.

And that's universal too.

I mean, we're hearing that from Doctor Annie Andrews who's running for U.S.

Senate.

You're hearing that from some of these national folks who are coming through, just like Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky we saw the other day, is that, that seems to be the strategy, hopefully, the winning strategy for y'all to just make it about moving forward and not going back and forth with each other.

Johnson> I mean, y'all probably have noticed this yourself, I have never been a hyper partisan person.

And, you know, in the General Assembly, I've never been that type.

I've always said, just do what's right.

You know, I never want to get bogged down into those divisive, you know, pieces of legislation, those things that just keep us apart.

I mean, everybody is suffering right now with gas.

Everybody's suffering with utility costs.

Everybody is suffering right now on these roads.

Like, everybody's suffering the same things and I've been saying this for six years, that we're all suffering here.

That our kids just want a better, you know, quality of education.

Like we just want a better life.

And because of that, you know, there's really nothing you can go back and point at me about six years ago, say, "Jermaine was on this side and I was on this side."

No, I've been consistent the entire time.

And I'm always gonna be that way.

I mean, it was who I was when I was helping Andrew Yang run for president.

You know, it's just the same thing.

I've never been a traditional individual.

I'm gonna do what's right for the people every single time.

Gavin> And really quick, we have less than about 90 seconds, but just talk about data centers, your concern about those.

Do we need a moratorium?

Do you need regulations?

What do you need to do for data centers being developed in South Carolina?

Rep.

Johnson> I think the General Assembly must provide guardrails around the construction of data centers in South Carolina.

And I've said that by issuing my joint resolution to put a moratorium on data center construction, because I believe the General Assembly has to put the guardrails first before they continue going on and building without the guardrails in place.

You know, we're seeing that the water usage is up to 1.6 million dollars a day.

These are issues that community members don't want to deal with.

They want people who are leading to actually deal with this issue.

Gavin> Yeah, and Jermaine, you just mentioned... you just mentioned presidential candidates.

Obviously for Democrats, South Carolina will be first in the nominating calendar.

What role do you see us doing differently this go around since again, we'll be first, but this time it's wide open versus what we saw in 2024.

Rep.

Johnson> Oh, well, I think it's gonna be a lot of people coming through here.

I think more than what we traditionally have seen just now.

And everybody is gonna be coming to hire everybody in South Carolina.

But I think South Carolina is truly going to pick the next president again.

I think that's what we do well at, is picking presidents.

And, I think we are gonna be on the cuff to receive some serious assistance to help us build out South Carolina going forward.

But it's really gonna be dependent upon who we all support.

Gavin> Who are you gonna support?

Rep.

Johnson> I ain't gonna tell you that.

[laughter] <It's too early> Too early, man!

Gavin> Tried to get you.

Representative Jermaine Johnson, thanks so much, appreciate it.

Rep.

Johnson> Thank you.

Gavin> And there are two third party candidates also running for governor, Michael Addison and Walid Hakim.

You can watch all of our election night coverage at YouTube.com/@SCETVNews as well as those previous interviews.

for South Carolina ETV, I'm Gavin Jackson.

Be well South Carolina.

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