by WILL FOLKS
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Touting the elimination of the Palmetto State’s income tax, massive infrastructure overhauls and reforms to a notoriously uneven judicial system, four-term Republican attorney general Alan Wilson claimed a closer-than-expected victory in South Carolina’s gubernatorial election on Tuesday evening (November 3, 2026).
With 91% of precincts reporting, Wilson led Democrat state representative Jermaine Johnson with 1,0449,910 votes (or 51.7%) of the ballots counted. Johnson, who was dramatically outspent in the race, had received 949,595 votes (or 47%) of the ballots counted.
Wilson’s win came five months after the state’s top prosecutor won a resounding victory in a contentious Republican primary – besting multiple well-known and well-funded opponents. If that wasn’t sufficiently impressive, he followed it up by somehow managing to unify a badly divided party behind his candidacy.
Wilson needed every one of those GOP votes as South Carolina Republicans suffered through their worst election in decades – including the historic loss of a U.S. Senate seat that had been in GOP hands for decades.
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Wilson becomes the 118th post-colonial governor of South Carolina – a state which has struggled to keep pace with national and regional peers on multiple key metrics of prosperity, public safety and effective, efficient governance.
Unlike many candidates running this cycle, Wilson spoke directly to these concerns – running an outward-facing campaign geared around families and small businesses struggling amid soaring prices.
He also told FITSNews during an election eve interview that momentum for his agenda was building…
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? EXCLUSIVE: We have confirmed through our federal sources that there is indeed an open investigation into the S.C. Senate. This is tied to the state-level probe promised by @DavidPascoe regarding alleged trial lawyer bribery. pic.twitter.com/2grxYEEa28
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) April 2, 2026
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This is a developing story… stay tuned for updates.
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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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