COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster officially endorsed his lieutenant governor, Pamela Evette, on Thursday, as the Republican who can carry his legacy into what he coined the “South Carolina century.”
The backing of South Carolina’s longest-serving governor comes four months before voters decide the Republican and Democratic nominees. Evette is among five Republicans and two Democrats vying to replace McMaster.
“South Carolina is strong, and we are winning,” he said in a 75-second video released by the campaign ahead of a news conference. “With Pamela Evette as our next governor, we’ll keep winning.”
At Senate’s End, the two appeared on stage together with their spouses.
“I trust her, I believe in her, and I like her family too,” he said at the venue a mile from the Statehouse.
The 78-year-old governor referred to Evette, 58, as his “eyes and ears.”
He sees Evette as the candidate who will follow his approach to getting things done through his often-repeated phrase of “collaboration, cooperation and communication.” That approach explains why McMaster’s initiatives have had more success in the Legislature than his GOP predecessors. It also explains why many GOP legislators have already endorsed Evette.
They include House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister of Greenville and House Majority Leader Davey Hiott of Pickens, who were among roughly 20 legislators at Thursday’s event. Others in attendance included former state GOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd and SC Ports Board Chairman Bill Stern.
Beyond boosting Evette’s profile at a time when many voters are just starting to pay attention, McMaster’s public blessing could also signal that an endorsement from President Donald Trump will follow.
Though Evette’s been by McMaster’s side at public events since he picked the then-political novice as his running mate in November 2017, she’s needed to introduce herself to voters in her first solo campaign ever. At campaign stops in every county, she’s touted her business credentials as the former CEO of Quality Business Solutions, an outsourcing payroll and human resources firm in Greenville County.
And she’s painted herself as the most Trump-aligned candidate from the outset.
Her campaign launch video last July featured a montage of McMaster and Trump praising her. So did a TV ad last fall — the race’s first — which brought criticism from two GOP opponents, Attorney General Alan Wilson and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who blasted the commercial as falsely suggesting the two had endorsed her. In return, Evette has criticized them as unloyal to Trump between his 2020 loss and 2024 comeback.
On Thursday, McMaster stressed Evette’s connection to Trump.
“When it came to President Trump — Pamela Evette stood with me from day one — eight years ago — helping me bring the America First agenda home to South Carolina,” McMaster said in the campaign video.
That’s expected to help Evette in a race with polls showing “undecided” winning the day. Trump’s official endorsement could solidify Evette as the GOP frontrunner.
“It’s not gonna be absolutely decisive for everybody, but it’s going to be a big deal to the strongest partisans, and they’re still the ones most likely to show up and vote in the primary,” said Scott Huffmon, a longtime Winthrop University politics professor and director of the Winthrop Poll.
During the state’s critical first-in-the-South presidential primary two years ago, South Carolina Republicans gave former Gov. Nikki Haley an embarrassing defeat in her home state, as she lost to Trump by more than 20 percentage points.
It was Trump’s pick of Haley as his first United Nations ambassador that put McMaster in the Governor’s Mansion.
Ahead of South Carolina’s 2016 primary, then-Lt. Gov. McMaster was the nation’s first statewide elected official to back Trump, as Haley campaigned for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. When he dropped out, she backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
McMaster’s decision — which stunned even some of his closest allies — ultimately made him governor, and he’s been an unwavering supporter since. Trump returned to the Palmetto State in 2018 to rally for McMaster in his first election to the job. And McMaster and Evette returned the favor, appearing by Trump’s side at his re-election rallies.
Evette had zero experience campaigning or working in government when McMaster picked her as his running mate.
The Upstate female business owner provided a counterbalance to McMaster, a Columbia native whose political career started 45 years ago, when President Ronald Reagan picked him as the U.S. attorney for South Carolina.
Before becoming lieutenant governor, McMaster helped build the GOP in South Carolina as state party chairman and spent two terms as attorney general.
Evette gave the ticket a genuine political outsider, even as she explained — while calling herself a “Trump girl” — that she first met McMaster while attending Trump’s 2017 inauguration.
On Thursday, Evette again highlighted her business experience, much as Haley did in 2010, when the then-three-term legislator ran as an outsider with a small business background to ultimately become South Carolina’s first female governor. The men Haley defeated along the way included McMaster.
Evette called McMaster her “role model” and stressed just how new she was to politics before 2017: She’d never even been a high school class president, she said.
“If you like what you saw in this first chapter, you’re gonna love what you see in the next chapter,” she said to claps and cheers from the room.
To the governor, she said, “I won’t let you down; I’ll continue to make you proud.”
Reaction
The other Republicans seeking to replace McMaster dismissed the endorsement.
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell said he respects what the governor’s done for South Carolina but believes voters want change.
“I think he loves the state,” said the Spartanburg County Republican, “but we don’t do political dynasties in South Carolina.”
This election — the first wide-open race for governor since 2010 — Wilson was the first to choose a running mate: state Sen. Mike Reichenbach of Florence. No other candidate, including Evette, has done so.
“South Carolina conservatives want a new age of leadership,” Wilson said in response to McMaster picking Evette. “I am excited about our ticket and our vision for the state moving forward.”
His campaign’s first TV ad, announced Thursday, features a photo of him standing with Trump.
Mace reacted by posting a photo of her and McMaster on social media.
“Governor McMaster has served South Carolina faithfully, and I respect his years of service. Pam Evette is a nice lady,” she wrote.
“South Carolina families aren’t looking for more of the same,” she continued. “And here’s what the establishment still hasn’t figured out: I don’t stop. I don’t waver. And I certainly don’t scare.”
And U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman said “it’s no surprise” that McMaster endorsed Evette, considering she was his choice for running mate.
“What South Carolina needs is a more conservative direction that shakes up” Columbia, said the Rock Hill Republican, a member of the hardline Freedom Caucus in Congress who helped launch an affiliate in the South Carolina House.
The two Democrats who have announced bids are state Rep. Jermaine Johnson of Richland County and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod.
Johnson, first elected to the House in 2020, said he welcomes the endorsement of anyone who wants “a new day” in South Carolina.
“I’m running for governor because I believe our state can be richer, safer, and better for working people if we do not settle for the status quo,” he said, echoing his speech in giving Democrats’ response to McMaster’s final State of the State address. “Gov. McMaster thinks we will win by doing more of the same. He is very wrong.”
It’s been 28 years since South Carolina last elected a Democrat as governor: former Rep. Jim Hodges, who was ousted in 2002 by Republican Mark Saford.
Candidates can’t officially file for the June primaries until March. The first GOP gubernatorial debate is set for March 17 at Coastal Carolina University.
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