South Carolina Republicans on Tuesday selected state Attorney General Alan Wilson as their GOP nominee to lead the nation’s fastest-growing state. With votes rolling in, Wilson leads Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette with about 65% of the vote. Decision Desk HQ called the race at 7:22 p.m. ET.  Decision Desk HQ projects Alan Wilson wins the SC Governor Republican Runoff#DecisionMade: 7:22 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/i9CUeJWTTk — Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 23, 2026 On June 9, Evette and Wilson advanced to a runoff after neither candidate surpassed the 50% threshold. President Trump initially endorsed Evette ahead of the primary, but after she secured just 29% of the vote, he backed both candidates four days before the runoff. “There are two Highly Respected Candidates running to be your next Governor in the June 23rd Republican Runoff Election,” Trump said Friday on Truth Social. “ Both have had amazing careers, and have been with me from the beginning. They are MAGA and America First all the way!”  “These were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff, and they did. I can’t hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so, therefore, I am going to Endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson! It’s a Wealth of Riches – With either one you can’t go wrong,” he added.  The 11th-hour endorsement provided a boost to Wilson’s campaign, who touted his MAGA credentials ahead of the vote.  “As South Carolina’s Attorney General, I have been proud to stand with him,” Wilson wrote on X. “And I never backed down. When President Trump needed fighters, I was in the fight.” The dual endorsement handicapped Evette’s key argument that she was the only MAGA-backed candidate in the race. Her campaign attack ads accused Wilson of not being sufficiently loyal to Trump, according to a local outlet.  Seven Republicans competed to replace Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, including Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, U.S. Representatives Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, State Senator Josh Kimbrell, and businessman Rom Reddy.  Trump’s endorsement of Evette effectively sidelined Congresswoman Mace from the race, who chalked up the decision as political retaliation.  “I knew it was on the line when I voted to release the Epstein files, and I’m a survivor, but if the price to pay for an endorsement was to not release those files, I would never, I would never pay it,” Mace told Fox News. “So I knew it was on the line, and I disagree with this endorsement, and I’m going to vote for myself.”  If elected, Wilson will face myriad challenges, including outdated infrastructure, a strained healthcare system, and lagging educational outcomes.  Still, people across the country continue to pack up their lives and move to the Palmetto State in record numbers. Between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, South Carolina’s population grew by 1.5 percent — faster than any other state—according to the U.S. Census Bureau. “Overall, South Carolina’s population continues to grow rapidly, largely as a result of migration from other states—though growth has slowed since its pandemic-era peak, when the expansion of remote work along with elevated labor market turnover led to unusually high rates of relocation across the country,” South Carolina’s Department of Employment said in a report. Going into November, the Cook Political Report ranks both the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races as solid Republican.