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by WILL FOLKS
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Over the past few days, we’ve extensively chronicled the unmitigated clusterfuck that is president Donald Trump‘s endorsement of Pamela Evette in the race for governor of South Carolina.
Trump’s endorsement of Evette – a charm-starved lieutenant governor serving in a results-challenged, establishment-friendly administration – has been a case study in how not to receive the most important imprimatur in American politics.
It started off on the wrong foot, began unraveling almost immediately and has now pretty much completely unspooled…
Will the pooch-screwed rollout hurt Evette? Early returns show her getting a boost from Trump’s nod, but it certainly doesn’t seem like the endorsement is the silver bullet her supporters – including several Upstate donors who reportedly shelled out big bucks to secure it – were banking on.
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Also, Evette and her status quo Svengali – governor Henry McMaster – seem unable to give the public a straight answer on the most basic questions of regarding the alleged quid pro quo that prompted the president to give his “complete and total” support to Evette.
And that would appear to have gifted the lieutenant governor’s office to Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son…
Evette dodged a debate to avoid answering such questions, and when the two were gingerly approached on the campaign trail by a mainstream media reporter earlier this week they offered up their best Beavis and Butthead imitation.
There’s a good reason for the awkwardness…
After all, Occam’s Razor strongly suggests it is the Evette campaign pushing the recent leaks of compromising communications made by the younger McMaster during his formative years – hoping to give her an out from having to choose him as her second-in-command.
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? New Episode: First in the South Politics: South Carolina’s 2026 Primaries, Trump, Redistricting, Murdaugh & the Road to 2028
— Dustin Olson (@DustinOlson) June 2, 2026
Political Trade Secrets: I am joined by @TheWillFolks, founding editor of South Carolina’s top political news outlet, @FITSNews, to break down the… pic.twitter.com/mF0A2grTUz
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However things shake out, Trump’s endorsement of Evette will have major implications on this spring’s partisan primary elections in South Carolina – not to mention the 2028 ‘First in the South’ presidential primary.
So keep it tuned to FITSNews as we track the fallout…
Meanwhile, in another early voting state, a Trump-endorsed candidate for governor went down in defeat this week. On Tuesday evening, Iowa congressman Randy Feenstra – who received Trump’s “complete and total” backing last Friday – was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a rural farmer and conservative activist.
With all precincts reporting, Lahn received 80,765 votes (or 37.8% of all ballots cast). That was just enough to win the nomination over Feenstra, who received 79,113 votes (or 37% of all ballots cast).
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Feenstra’s campaign – which was run by many of the same people currently managing Evette’s political fortunes – was roundly criticized as lackluster, lacking in imagination and relying exclusively on the Trump factor.
Sound familiar?
Evette is one of six candidates vying for the GOP nomination in South Carolina, a state which hasn’t elected a Democrat to the governor’s office since 1998. The others are four-term attorney general Alan Wilson, congressman Ralph Norman, congresswoman Nancy Mace, Lowcountry multi-millionaire Rom Reddy and Upstate senator Josh Kimbrell.
Polls in the race are all over the map, but each of the contenders (with the notable exception of Kimbrell) appears to have a path to victory. The first challenge? Qualifying for the runoff election. In South Carolina (unlike Iowa), if no candidate receives a majority of votes on the first ballot the top two vote-getters advance to a head-to-head runoff two weeks later.
Early voting is currently underway and voters will make their first choices next Tuesday (June 9, 2026).
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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