President Donald Trump threw his support behind South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette in the state's crowded Republican gubernatorial primary, passing over U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace and four other GOP candidates in a move that reshuffles the dynamics of one of 2026's most competitive races.
Trump posted his endorsement on Truth Social Friday evening, calling Evette "an America First Patriot who has been with me from the very beginning." The message was unmistakable: loyalty matters, and Evette earned it.
The endorsement lands in a primary where no candidate has broken away from the pack. A Trafalgar Group poll conducted May 21, 24 among 1,125 likely Republican primary voters found Evette at 19.9%, Attorney General Alan Wilson at 19.4%, businessman Rom Reddy at 19%, Rep. Ralph Norman at 15.9%, and Mace at 14.6%, all within striking distance, with 5.6% undecided. For Mace, the timing is especially painful. She has been sliding. A co/efficient poll from March 12, 13 had her leading the field at 22%. By the end of April, she had dropped to 12%.
Trump made the basis for his decision explicit. As Newsweek reported, Trump praised Evette as the "only South Carolina Gubernatorial Candidate to Endorse me as soon as I launched my 2024 Presidential Campaign." He added that she "never wavered, never let me down."
"Pam has my Complete and Total Endorsement, SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! A BIG added plus for Pam is that, I hear, Henry McMaster, Jr., the brilliant and very competent son of Henry and Peggy, will be running with her as the next Lieutenant Governor. I LOVE SOUTH CAROLINA!"
Evette responded on X with gratitude, telling Trump that his "walk down that golden escalator is what propelled me into politics" and pledging she would "never let you down."
The endorsement continues a pattern. Trump has wielded his backing as the single most powerful currency in Republican primaries, and his perfect 2026 primary endorsement record shows how seriously GOP voters take his word.
Mace's initial response Friday night struck a measured tone. She posted on X that she has "enormous respect for President Trump and everything he has done for our country and for South Carolina," adding that "that respect is genuine and it is unchanged."
But she also drew a line. "South Carolina deserves a Governor who answers to her people, not to the establishment, and not to anyone who believes accountability is negotiable," Mace wrote.
By Saturday morning, the restraint had worn off. Mace branded herself "MACA Mace" and took a direct shot at the president's chosen candidate, posting: "PAM the SCAM has not one single original idea." She also invoked Margaret Thatcher:
"Margaret Thatcher once said if you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time and would achieve nothing. I did not come into politics to be liked. I came to deliver."
Mace also posted an AI-generated video featuring herself and Trump and shared a screenshot of a 2022 Reuters article about her winning a congressional primary, an apparent attempt to remind voters she has overcome long odds before. Left-leaning commentators seized on the AI video. Emma Vigeland of Majority FM called it "unhinged ex behavior," a post that drew over 185,000 views on X.
What drove the wedge between Trump and Mace? The congresswoman offered her own explanation. The Washington Examiner reported that Mace acknowledged she may have lost the endorsement after signing a discharge petition to release the Epstein files, and that the White House reportedly pressured her to remove her signature.
Mace has been vocal in criticizing the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein files. She framed her position as a matter of principle, stating bluntly: "If this is the price of an endorsement, I will never pay it."
It is worth noting that Trump backed Mace's reelection to Congress in 2024, calling her a "strong conservative voice." He had also endorsed against her at an earlier point. Their relationship has been uneven, and the Epstein files dispute appears to have been the final break.
The dynamic mirrors what happened in Texas, where Trump threw his weight behind Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in the Senate runoff, another case where loyalty and alignment with the president's priorities outweighed seniority or prior support.
South Carolina's GOP gubernatorial primary remains genuinely competitive. The three most recent polls tell a story of volatility. In March, Mace led at 22% with Evette one point behind at 21% and 29% of voters undecided. By late April, Evette had edged ahead to 21% while Mace cratered to 12%, a 10-point drop in roughly six weeks. The May Trafalgar poll showed four candidates bunched within five points at the top, with Mace in fifth place at 14.6%.
The field includes Wilson, the state attorney general, who has polled consistently between 18% and 19.4% across all three surveys. Reddy surged to 19% in the May poll after sitting at 11% in April. Norman, a congressman, has hovered between 8% and 15.9%. State Sen. Josh Kimbrell and decertified candidate Jacqueline Dubose remain in low single digits.
With undecided voters shrinking from 29% in March to just 5.6% in May, the race is hardening, and Trump's endorsement could be the force that breaks the logjam in Evette's favor. Just The News also confirmed the endorsement of Evette over Mace in the gubernatorial primary.
Trump also signaled that Henry McMaster Jr., the son of former Governor Henry McMaster, may run as Evette's lieutenant governor candidate, though Trump framed it as something he had heard rather than a confirmed announcement.
Mace now faces a primary without the endorsement she once enjoyed and with poll numbers that have moved sharply in the wrong direction. Her argument, that she refused to trade principle for political backing, is a compelling pitch to a certain kind of voter. Whether enough of those voters exist in a Republican primary where Trump's word carries enormous weight is another question entirely.
South Carolina Republicans have shown they can break with Trump on specific issues when they believe the stakes warrant it. But a gubernatorial primary is a different arena. The question is whether Mace's independence on the Epstein files reads as courage or defiance to the voters she needs.
For Evette, the endorsement validates a strategy built on early and unwavering alignment with Trump. She endorsed his 2024 campaign the moment it launched. She stayed close. She waited. And now she has the single most valuable asset in a Republican primary.
The other candidates, Wilson, Reddy, Norman, face their own dilemma. In a fractured field, Trump's endorsement could consolidate enough support to push Evette past the pack. Or the race could remain tight enough that the endorsement alone doesn't settle it, especially if Wilson's name recognition as attorney general or Reddy's financial resources keep them competitive.
Newsweek reached out to Mace's campaign Friday night for comment but did not report receiving a response.
In Republican politics, loyalty to Trump is a currency, and Mace just found out what it costs to stop paying. Whether her stand on the Epstein files was principled or politically miscalculated, the bill came due on Friday night. In a primary this tight, Trump's endorsement may be the only thing that separates a governor from an also-ran.
