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

The primary election was Tuesday.

And while we have some clarity on some races, like the U.S.

Senate race with incumbent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham set to face off against Democrat, Dr.

Annie Andrews in November, as well as, State Representative Jermaine Johnson becoming the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

But, we're still waiting to see who he'll face as Lieutenant Governor, Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson head to a June 23rd runoff, as do candidates for other statewide races like the Republican Attorney General nominee and the Republican Agriculture Commissioner.

We'll talk with political consultant Rob Godfrey about this.

But first, I want to give you a little recap of how we got here, as well as highlights from election night.

It became clear that Evette and Wilson were heading to a runoff, and more than 90 minutes after the polls closed, the two were addressing their supporters at their respective watch parties.

Wilson brought a more unifying message.

>> I want to thank Ralph Norman, and I want to thank Rom Reddy, because they each, like Nancy, brought unique aspects to this race.

They brought a unique way of campaigning.

It was different than mine.

Okay.

But it was unique to them and they actually made me a better candidate.

They made me appreciate this process so much more, because it made me fight harder and work harder and appreciate it more.

So thank you to them.

Now they're not moving forward in this race, but...this is what I want to say to their supporters, to the supporters, the people out there who voted today for Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Rom Reddy, three people who represented something to you that inspired and sparked something in you.

To the people who supported Nancy Mace, because she was the maverick who shook things up, you never knew what she was going to do or say, and you loved that about her.

There's a home for you in the Wilson campaign.

(applause) To the Ralph Norman supporters out there, who loved that Ralph Norman was a conservative juggernaut who challenged the establishment and the status quo, there is a home for you here.

(applause) To those of you, who supported Rom Reddy, the successful businessman, the plain spoken outsider who brought a message of reform and something different, there is a home for you here in the Wilson campaign.

(applause) I will fight for you.

And I invite all of you who I wasn't your second choice coming into tonight, or I wasn't your first choice.

I'm willing to be your second choice tomorrow morning.

Give us a chance to fight for you, to fight for the ideals that you found so valuable in those other candidates.

Let me be that standard bearer for you.

I will carry that for you in the next two weeks.

Ladies and gentlemen, as your next governor, Mike and I talked about this, our number one goal in everything that we do, our North Star, our true North, if you will, will be to make living in South Carolina more affordable for your families, to make our economy (applause) more profitable for your businesses, and to make our government more accountable to you.

That is what I commit to you.

(applause) I'm a 30 year combat veteran and a career prosecutor.

I have fought in the courtrooms of this country for our constitutional rights to put violent criminals behind prison and I have fought on the battlefields of Iraq to defend and protect our Constitution and our way of life.

I will bring that same courage, that same conviction, that same passion, that same desire to fight for you to the office of the governor, if you will give me the chance.

Hire me to be your next governor.

I will be a fighter for you.

We will fight to eliminate the income tax, reduce your property taxes, doge fraud, waste and abuse from government, promote a kids first, education agenda, fix our crumbling roads and bridges, lower utility rates by putting more energy into South Carolina, and having smart growth that respects the character of the communities that we live in.

No more boondoggle deals that are cramming things down your throat.

We're going to have a thoughtful government.

We're not going to have the status quo anymore.

Gavin> Evette was already on the attack.

Pamela Evette> In two weeks we're going to win this runoff election.

But that is just the beginning.

We're going to eliminate income tax.

It's your money.

It belongs in your pockets, not in Columbia.

We're going to slash property taxes because no South Carolinian should ever be taxed out of their home.

We're going to pass full universal school choice to give South Carolina's next generation the best education possible.

And we're going to fix our roads.

(applause) We will stop funding woke institutions, and we will end tenure once and for all, get rid of radical professors who are trying to indoctrinate our kids.

(applause) And we're going to stand up for conservative voices and conservative values.

I have never, I will never back down to the woke mob.

Over these next two weeks, we're going to highlight a very clear contrast between myself and a career politician.

(applause) If you want a finger in the wind career politician who won't take a stand and who does the political thing and not the right thing, then you should excitedly vote for Alan Wilson.

(jeering) If you want someone who more than doubled his taxpayer funded salary while you struggle to make ends meet, then Alan Wilson might be the guy for you.

(jeering) And if you want someone who has bankrolled his radical liberal corporates, that spewed D.E.I., then Alan Wilson is your guy.

(jeering) But if you want a business leader, a CEO, and someone who has spent their career outside of politics, I'll be asking for your vote.

(applause and chanting "Let's go Pam") If you want a Trump endorsed steel spine conservative, then join our team.

(applause) If you want to put a stake, in the woke D.E.I.

mob that tries to cancel conservatives every chance they get, then I'm your candidate, (applause) because this is a stupid choice, a choice between a career politician with no business experience who lines their pockets with your tax dollars, or a Trump endorsed businesswoman and conservative who's going to take this fight to the radical left for you, the people of South Carolina.

(applause) Gavin> All of this came after nearly a year of campaigning by both of them, and by vanquishing others in the field of six and then five, following Spartanburg Senator Josh Kimbrell's departure last week.

Kimbrell threw his support behind Wilson and joined him on the trail days before in Greer.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace came in fifth place in the race.

Throughout the entire campaign, she went through staff, didn't have a campaign manager, held few events, and relied on earned media and social media for attention.

She blamed her poor performance, in part by not getting president Donald Trump's endorsement.

Though they've had a fraught relationship ever since, she heavily criticized him for the January 6th, 2021, insurrection attempt, which was just days after she was sworn into her first term.

She also said that her vote on releasing the Epstein files was the real reason he didn't endorse her.

Mace spent months attacking Wilson's character on social media, but spoke with the four term attorney general before he addressed supporters Tuesday evening.

Winthrop political science professor, Dr.

Scott Huffmon, reacted to the news on SCETV's election night show.

Dr.

Scott Huffmon> Pam Evette has ready made ammunition to pull up previous social media posts about Alan Wilson and juxtapose it with any positive thing she might say about Alan Wilson.

We'll see Nancy Mace's previous social media, in anything that she does to endorse Alan Wilson.

So he is going to have to be very strategic, practically surgical in how he deploys her.

And remember, you know, she's getting the low double digits in votes.

He can get name recognition and attention when she comes to an event.

But compared to the rest of the field, she doesn't have a lot of voters to deliver.

You know, she can try and make a convincing argument as to why, you know, other voters should not go to Evette, but go to Wilson.

But you know, the best thing she can do is get eyes on Wilson.

But she has to be careful because there's so much ammunition out there about things she's said before.

And, you know, I think grenades underestimate a description of some of the things she's, she's tossed at him.

Gavin> Like Wilson, Evette was barnstorming during the final days of the trail, with her boss and the man who launched her political career in 2018, Governor Henry McMaster.

Governor Henry McMaster> Another thing, she she and I have had eight years together.

I had two years without her, but the eight ones with her been a whole lot better than the ones without her.

(applause) And she has gained the experience that most people don't get to have.

It used to be, the governor and the lieutenant governor ran on separate tickets, but this time, I was the first governor that picked his running mate.

I picked her.

Picked her once.

Picked her twice.

And now I'm picking her for the third time- (applause) And she has been here with me.

She has taught me things I did not know.

We worked together on policy matters and on issues from A to Z, as the executive, chief executive of this state, working with the lieutenant governor, gives her an insight into things that others, frankly, don't have.

That's important.

She knows where we've been.

We've worked together on plans, where we go in and new things could be coming up.

It's not always going to be the same, but with that kind of education and experience at the top executive level, that gives her an advantage that the others do not have.

The Evette campaign spent the past two weeks on defense after Trump, in his endorsement post, claimed that McMaster's son would be on the ticket with her.

Gov.

McMaster> That's just, that's...just speculation and everybody's got, entitled to their own opinions, but not to...the facts.

I don't know where all that's coming from.

Gavin> Opponents like Congressman Ralph Norman pounced and called it a backroom deal and a coronation.

Rep.

Ralph Norman> Well, I'll ask, you know, I would just turn it back and say, talk to different people that liked the Trump endorsement.

You have some that don't like it.

So it's all a matter of your perception.

As a whole, I think it's a positive for Mrs.

Evette.

So, but everybody's got to make their choice.

And Trump's not on the ballot here.

Our names are on the ballot.

And I will say he picked somebody that's not "Trump-esque" Pamela hadn't done anything for eight years, and, as far as any type of accomplishment.

So, but people have to make that call.

Gavin> The coveted endorsement seemed to land like a thud.

It also didn't translate into automatic support.

Debbie Myers of Lexington was still sticking with Norman.

Debbie Myers> I wasn't really that surprised, because Trump has made some really bad picks.

And he doesn't live here and he doesn't speak for me.

I mean, I appreciate a lot that Trump has done.

I've supported him.

But he doesn't know South Carolina issues the way that someone who has lived here their whole life would know South Carolina issues.

He has not seen what this state has become as far as the governance of it.

And so I don't need him to tell me who to vote for.

And we don't need a coronation, by the way.

We need someone who earns her nomination, instead of being hand chosen.

Gavin> Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy who spent more than $5.5 million dollars of his own money, since jumping in the race on March 16th, came in fourth Tuesday evening.

He held well attended and well appointed events around the state, from luxury hotels to the beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg, where he kept up his ridicule of the political ruling class as he had taken to calling his opponents.

His outsider status was attractive to his supporters, some of whom would have backed Norman, like Marie Urquhart.

>> Well, actually, Ralph Norman, I heard him speak.

And I liked the fact that he was, you know, for term limits and,... that sort of thing.

But then I found out that he's been in politics for 20 years and hadn't done anything up to that point.

I don't think he's going to start now.

Gavin> As of Thursday, June 11th, Reddy had not endorsed.

And it's not clear if he will, after extolling strong principles for months.

Evette And Wilson are in the final sprint, with turnout being crucial on June 23rd.

Joining me now is Rob Godfrey.

He's a political communications strategist who is not affiliated with any of these campaigns, but he has worked for Governor Henry McMaster and Governor Nikki Haley in the past.

Rob, welcome back.

A lot going on.

We're glad you're here with us.

Rob Godfrey> I'm glad to be here.

Thanks for having me, Gavin.

Gavin> So, we'll talk about the governor's race, a lot, and just start off with the Democrats, because we do have a clear winner right there from last night, as well as the turnout.

I want to mention, it was a record 25% percent last night, with 855,370 ballots cast.

Of that, 37% percent was from that two week record breaking early voting period, which was heavily driven by Democrats.

This seemed to be part of a scenario that Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey was warning about, especially during that redistricting push, which dovetailed right at the start of early in-person voting and motivated Democrats, as we're seeing.

But the big winner was Representative Jermaine Johnson.

He won this outright, besting two very well-funded candidates, Billy Webster and Mullins McLeod, who spent millions of dollars.

What did you make of this outcome for Johnson?

Rob> So I'd say a couple things.

One, you know, great job on behalf of the Democratic Party for turning out early voters.

As far as Representative Johnson goes himself... look, Representative Johnson has done a lot of work over the last several years, dating back to his work with Andrew Yang's presidential campaign to organize.

He's well known among grassroots activists.

He's done a lot of work traveling the state, with his wife.

They've been very visible.

And while they haven't been as heavy on paid media as, say, Billy Webster, Billy Webster was, you know, you can't, you can't underscore the value in a state like South Carolina, where the governor's office, in particular, is one, people put such a personal touch on with meeting face to face with voters, and Jermaine Johnson has done that, over the last year or so that he's been a candidate.

Gavin> Yeah.

And he was also pressured to drop out of this race, too, citing electability concerns, citing these fundraising concerns.

He raised too close to half $1 million dollars compared to what we saw those other guys raised.

He brought that up in his victory speech last night.

So now, no doubt there'll be some, moments of reconciliation among the Democrats and party insiders.

But again, still very much an uphill battle for him and other statewide candidates, Democrats going forward for November.

Rob> Sure.

The numbers as we saw in 2022, are, are very tough for statewide Democratic office holders.

Governor McMaster won, you know, won one of the, most historic re-election margins, that we've seen in decades.

And there's no reason to believe that a Republican nominee for, for governor won't, won't be in position to run up strong numbers again, if they have the right message, if they have a team that works as hard as Governor McMaster did.

And they raised money.

So, I think that, while, Representative Johnson is certainly a compelling Democratic nominee in a number of ways, he's, he has his work cut out for him.

And I think, you know, he'd, he'd admit that, too.

Gavin> Yeah, we saw a lot of... it was a pretty good debate that we had, too, if I may say so myself, on ETV with, with the Democrats on stage.

We did see, I did pick up on a camaraderie, a little fellowship, friendship with Webster and Johnson.

Some wonder...if we'll see some of that money from Webster make it into supporting Jermaine there.

But switching to the Republicans, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson are now in any runoff.

No one got that 50% percent plus one vote to avoid it.

She got 29% percent.

He came in at 26% percent.

This is a scenario you and other folks were expecting.

And when we look at that map from, from Tuesday night where the votes were for this, Evette narrowly won a few of the upstate counties, which are critical, like Greenwood, Anderson, Oconee and Spartanburg.

She was third in her home county of Greenville.

But that was only about a point behind Norman and Wilson there.

She blew out Horry County, which you can talk about it, with 50% percent of the vote, where that's obviously a Republican stronghold.

A lot of folks who have, recently relocated to the state live there, as well.

And, and she was also strong in some of the Pee Dee counties.

But, of course, Wilson took the biggest Pee Dee county in Florence with Senator Mike Reichenbach, being the senator from that county, helping him carry there.

And in the Lowcountry it was more Wilson territory, as was part of the Midlands, especially Lexington County where Wilson's from.

So... tell me how you saw that map, especially when we maybe contrasted with the 2018 race for governor that you were a part of when we saw McMaster lose Greenville.

But when, Horry County and going into that runoff with John Warren.

How do you contrast these two races when you look at that map?

Rob> So, the attorney general's campaign, absolutely did the work it needed to do to turnout, to turnout its voters in the Midlands, his home, his home area.

His margin was impressive in Lexington County, his home county.

And I think that's not expected.

Anyone who's driven through Lexington County has felt that presence.

And by the same token, the lieutenant governor, did, did extremely well in Horry County, which was not unexpected.

She spent a lot of time there.

She has a lot of institutional support from, from elected officials there.

And she's, she knows a lot of the grass roots activists there and has done a lot of work there over the course of time.

In the upstate, the Wilson campaign has to be happy with its finish in, in Greenville County, and in, and in some of the ways that it cut in to margins, in the upstate.

And so I think that what we're, what we're in for is a two week runoff, a sprint to the finish.

That, again, is not unexpected, I think, heading into the final weekend, because I think the candidacies of Congressman Norman and Rom Reddy, while they ran good campaigns, I think they peaked a little bit earlier, because the, you know, conventional wisdom, in the, at the beginning of this campaign was that there were two lanes, one for a candidate who was, cut from the cloth of, the attorney general and the lieutenant governor.

Statewide office holders who, who'd, who had, you know, institutional support.

And, you know, an insurgent candidate like a Ralph Norman or, or a, or a Rom Reddy.

You know, those insurgent candidates, they, they peaked early for one reason or another.

You know, whether it was their message, or whether it was their allocation of resources.

And so I think we're in for a memorable runoff.

In true, South Carolina fashion, but one where, the candidates themselves, you know, are both, seasoned candidates, mature candidates who will undoubtedly throw, you know, some policy punches in a debate and on TV, because they have disagreements.

But those largely will be forgotten once the race is over.

You know, it's usually the, the, the, the remarks and the nastiness from, you know, emotionally overwrought supporters, of those candidates, you know, who take to social media and say things that, that are the hardest for, some of the folks in those camps to forget.

<Yeah> But I think we're in for a, you know, a, a an entertaining two weeks.

Gavin> And we've already seen that play out a lot too, living up to our reputation of being, you know, a blood sport for politics in South Carolina, like, it's been.

It felt like a very low energy cycle leading into the past few weeks, in which case, it did get a little bit messier, a little bit more fights, some, some sad rhetoric, some innuendo there driven specifically at Rom Reddy, who's an Indian Italian American.

Rob> That was gross.

But going to that, talking about Rom, talking about Ralph, talking about Nancy Mace, talking about that other lane, where do those voters go?

We already saw Congresswoman Nancy Mace throw her support behind Alan Wilson, who she just, like, blasted all of last year on social media, and now she's right behind him.

What does Evette have to do to pick up these other endorsements?

Is that even in play?

Rob> So I think what you'll probably see today is, some candidate, there's two candidates, who are tired, but they understand what's in front of them, a two week sprint.

So what they're doing is they're, going into the field today to test, to test where exactly where they are and where they have room to grow with, with voters.

They're no doubt on the phone with, people who were their former opponents hoping to win them over.

And in doing so, hoping to win over some of the supporters of some of those, former opponents.

And they're also, charting out a, a very quick but important fundraising plan so that they can stay as close to parity on television with each other as possible, because paid media still matters, whether it's on, on tele- on traditional television, it's on streaming platforms, or it's digital advertising.

Gavin> And what did you make of the Trump endorsement, here Rob?

We have about less than three minutes left here.

When you see that endorsement, which, should, Evette have gotten more of that vote because of that endorsement, or was this where we thought it would be?

...now, what has to happen there for Trump to really come into play here with this runoff sprint?

Rob> So, you know, President Trump's endorsement, like the endorsement of any sitting president of your party, is something that you want and something that, the Evette team, you know, no doubt worked, worked to secure over the course of the, of the campaign.

I think they made no secret about that.

And, you know, the question is whether that endorsement cinches, any people who are on the fence, who are on the fence now.

You know, I think that she and, the attorney general essentially tied last night, although she had, you know, you know, she slightly, she slightly edged in and... you know, I think the open question is because the president himself is a mercurial figure, to put it charitably, is what kind of, what kind of skin in the game he'll put to try to, to try to win, to try to help win this for, the lieutenant governor?

She said last night that he's all in to do whatever it takes.

So I think that we're going to have to see what that looks like.

Gavin> Yeah, we've, up to this point had social media posts from him, as well as a tele- town hall on primary night eve.

So again, we'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

With about a minute, we also just saw that, you know, talking about the messaging, we did see two different speeches from Wilson and Evette on Tuesday night, Evette, kind of really digging in on Alan already.

Where...as you saw Wilson kind of going a little bit more united and going forward.

Is that what the messaging is going to look like for the next two weeks, you think?

Rob> I don't know that that's what the messaging is going to look like, look like from both camps.

Next week I don't... or in the, in the next two weeks, you know, I don't think it was surprising to see the lieutenant governor, attempt to draw a contrast between her and her opponent.

But at the same time, I don't think it was surprising to see the attorney general be a bit more, unifying in his speech because they both had the same objective, which is to unite, the, you know, their former opponents behind them and to unite the supporters of their, of their opponents behind them.

I think that the, the attorney general's objective was to do that last night.

And, the lieutenant governor's objective was to, start that run off, you know, as soon as possible.

Gavin> Yeah, and we'll see a runoff debate at Coastal Carolina on June 16th.

So, that'll be fascinating, because Evette's only done one of the four debates of this cycle, so far.

And it should be both of them on stage.

So there's not going to be incoming from other opponents there, too.

But Rob, really quickly, there were other races on the ballot.

The A.G.

's race is now going to a runoff between State Senator Stephen Goldfinch and Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo.

And there were also 124 State House seats on the ballot, too, specifically a couple of a dozen races for the Republicans who have the super majority in the chamber.

Some some situations that happened there, too.

Really quick, what were some of your other takeaways from the primary night?

Rob> You know, I think it was a good night for the House Republican caucus and House leadership.

There was only one incumbent Republican, who, who I believe lost and one incumbent Democrat.

And there's another, and I think there's another race that's going to, that's going to run off, you know, obviously, Freedom Caucus, the Freedom Caucus members, beat back challengers... once again, too.

So, I think that the, I think that House leadership and the House Republican caucus held its own, as did, members of the Freedom Caucus.

And so, you know, again, a good night to be a, a good night to be an incumbent.

Gavin> Gotcha.

That's Rob Godfrey.

He's a political communication strategist.

Thank you very much, Rob.

We appreciate your insight.

Rob> Thank you always, Gavin.

Gavin> And for South Carolina ETV, I'm Gavin Jackson.

Be well, South Carolina.

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