5 highlights from Tuesday's elections: Platner wins in Maine; Trump’s candidates advance
4. Trump’s endorsed candidates advance in South Carolina
President Donald Trump’s endorsements have loomed large throughout the primary campaign season. Most of his endorsed candidates have either advanced to the general election or a runoff, and the South Carolina gubernatorial election was no exception.
Trump’s preferred candidate, Pamela Evette, came in first in the Republican primary, with unofficial results showing Evette taking 28.9% of the vote. She will head to a runoff with Alan Wilson, who captured 26.1% of the vote in the primary.
Democrat Jermaine Johnson easily won his party’s gubernatorial nomination with nearly 60% of the vote. Whichever Republican emerges victorious in the runoff will be heavily favored in the red state's general election.
Meanwhile, in the state’s U.S. Senate race, Trump’s endorsed candidate wrapped up the contest in a single round.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., beat back a primary challenge from Mark Lynch in his bid to win a fifth term representing the Palmetto State in the upper chamber. Unofficial results show Graham taking 56.8% of the vote, surpassing the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff. Lynch came in second place, with 28.9% of the vote.
Graham will be favored in the general election against Democrat Annie Andrews, who won her party’s nomination with 61.5% of the vote. Trump-endorsed Republicans won their respective primaries in South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District, 3rd Congressional District, 4th Congressional District, 5th Congressional District and 7th Congressional District.
Trump did not endorse a candidate in the open Republican primary in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, which will advance to a runoff. Republicans are favored in six of the state’s seven congressional districts, which Trump carried by double digits in 2024, while Democrats are favored in South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, which Democrat Kamala Harris overwhelmingly carried in 2024.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
