South Carolina voters go to the polls Tuesday to pick nominees for governor and other offices, opening a primary that could decide who leads the state’s next major political fights. Seven Republicans and three Democrats are vying to replace term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster, while the ballot also includes a high-stakes Senate contest and multiple congressional races.
The governor’s race has become the center of the day. Donald Trump has endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, while U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and state Attorney General Alan Wilson are also in the Republican field. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, attorney Mullins McLeod and businessman Billy Webster are running, and the party’s nominee will emerge from a contest that may be decided by a small edge in turnout and organization.
That is why the south carolina primary is being watched far beyond the state line. South Carolina is expected to again play a critical role at the front of the 2028 presidential calendar, which makes every signal from Tuesday’s vote matter to Republicans looking to measure Trump’s hold on the party and Democrats looking for a foothold in a state where they have struggled to break through.
The latest test of Trump’s influence is not happening in a vacuum. Mace has made her past Trump endorsement part of her pitch, but the fact that Trump’s backing is being treated as potentially decisive is not the same thing as a guarantee. A Republican gubernatorial primary in Iowa showed that an endorsement from Trump can shape a race without settling it, and South Carolina’s crowded field leaves room for the same kind of upset.
The Senate race adds another layer. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is seeking a fifth term against five Republican primary challengers and Democrat Annie Andrews, who challenged Mace unsuccessfully in 2022. Graham has Trump’s endorsement, but he has also spent more than $29 million on his reelection bid as of May 20 and entered the final stretch with about $4.2 million still in the bank, a sign of how seriously he views the race.
If no one clears a majority, the top two finishers move to a June 23 runoff. That rule gives the day a second possible ending and makes the vote count in every county, especially in Greenville, Horry, Charleston, Richland and Spartanburg, which are the state’s most populous and often help decide which candidates survive the first round.
McMaster’s departure after 10 years in office ends one era even before the general election begins, and the primary winners will set the field for a state that is likely to remain central to presidential politics. The open question now is not whether South Carolina matters; it is which Republicans and Democrats survive Tuesday well enough to claim that advantage next.
