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by WILL FOLKS
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Pollsters with the Kansas City, Missouri-based Co/efficient firm claimed last week that their latest survey – which showed South Carolina lieutenant governor Pamela Evette narrowly leading the race for governor of the Palmetto State – was “not sponsored by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”
This assertion of implied impartiality emanated from a company which lists “radical transparency” as one of its core values, too.
Don’t take our word for it, though. Take theirs…
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NEW: South Carolina Governor GOP Primary Poll
— co/efficient (@coefficientpoll) March 27, 2026
Governor Ballot:
Pamela Evette: 19%
Nancy Mace: 18%
Alan Wilson: 15%
Ralph Norman: 13%
Rom Reddy: 5%
Josh Kimbrell: 1%
Undecided: 30%
March 26-27, 2026 | 675 LV (R) | MoE ±3.45% | Not sponsored by any candidate or candidate's…
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There’s a problem with this imprimatur of independence, though. Campaign disclosure reports reviewed by our media outlet revealed multiple disbursements made by Evette’s campaign to Co/efficient – curiously timed payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars issued mere days before the company published another survey that similarly touted Evette’s supposedly strong position in the race.
Like last week’s data showing Evette atop the field, the previous survey was also “not sponsored by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”
Does that sound “radically transparent?”
On September 21, 2025, Co/efficient released another ostensibly independent poll which showed Evette surging against her three main rivals for the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial nomination – attorney general Alan Wilson, congresswoman Nancy Mace and congressman Ralph Norman. As we noted at the time, the September survey was “easily (Evette’s) best performance on a Palmetto State poll” – and fed a narrative that the lieutenant governor’s massive early investment in her candidacy was paying dividends.
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“Evette has logged the largest gain in the field—from mid-single digits in public polling to 18% today,” Co/efficient’s lead pollster Ryan Munce noted in a release (.pdf) accompanying the results.
Munce went on to opine that “Evette’s strength is concentrated among older conservatives and high-propensity GOP primary voters, a turnout bloc that typically dominates South Carolina primaries.”
“The trajectory favors Evette if she continues her climb among high-propensity conservatives,” he added.
Portrayed to the public as independent assessments, Co/efficient’s “non-sponsored” pro-Evette numbers – and the pro-Evette conclusions drawn from them – were, in fact, released to the public just days after the firm was paid handsomely by the lieutenant governor’s campaign.
Beginning less than a week before the publication of the poll, Evette paid Co/efficient a total of $32,575.80 in three installments, according to campaign finance records reviewed by FITSNews. Two initial payments of $11,567.20 and $10,687.70 were made by Evette’s campaign to Co/efficient on September 15, 2025 – six days before the poll’s publication – with a third payment of $10,320.90 coming three days later on September 18, 2025, three days before the poll’s release. None of the expenses were reported until weeks after the poll was published.
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RELATED | ROM REDDY’S ROI
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All three of the payments listed “text messaging” as the purpose for the disbursements. None of the itemized expenses referenced anything to do with polling. In fact, Evette has specified Fabrizio Lee & Associates of Fort Lauderdale, Florida as her campaign’s pollster of record – paying the firm $61,450 in December of last year for “survey research.”
Curiously, Evette’s campaign has not released any of Fabrizio’s polling – which has been the subject of much ongoing speculation.
The last truly independent poll in this race – released two weeks ago – showed Wilson and Mace tied at 22% with Evette at 16% and Norman at 11%. The race remains fluid, though, with new entrants vying against established contenders.
Filing for this office closes at 12:00 p.m. EDT this coming Monday (March 30, 2026). In addition to the announced GOP candidates, three candidates have filed for the Democrat nomination – state representative Jermaine Johnson, wealthy trial lawyer Mullins McLeod and multimillionaire Upstate businessman Billy Webster.
Several minor party candidates have also filed, included Gary Votour (Workers’ Party), Walid Hakim (Green Party) and Michael Addison (United Citizens’ Party).
Partisan primary elections are scheduled for June 9, 2026. In the event no candidate wins a majority of votes in the primary, a head-to-head runoff election between the top two vote-getters would be held two weeks later (on June 23, 2026). As we often note, the GOP primary is the race to watch in South Carolina. Democrats haven’t won a gubernatorial race since 1998 – and haven’t won a statewide election since 2006. That means whoever captures the Republican nomination is all but assured of prevailing in the general election come November.
Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we continue to track developments in this contest…
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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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4 comments
You need receipts so know a woman from Ohio is not leading the SCGOP?
The use of polls by politicians is akin to the use of lamp posts by drunkards: For support rather than illumination.
Best comment ever!
It is said to be galvanized by programs that scan politcal comments across the entire internet that Rom Reddy leads the pack by as much as 12%.