One week after President Donald Trump's endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president's immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina's GOP gubernatorial nomination face-off.A week and a half ago, the president handed Lt.Gov.
Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov.Henry McMaster.Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals.
They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Reps.Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUBSouth Carolina Lt.
Gov.Pamela Evette announces her bid for the Republican nomination for governor at The Smokestack at Judson Mill in South Carolina on July 14, 2025.
(Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service/Getty Images)The brute force of the president's endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.But Trump's last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep.Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov.
Kim Reynolds — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — wasn't enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.Feenstra was narrowly edged out by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F.Kennedy Jr.
— and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON...