Trump endorsement looms over Republican race for South Carolina governor

CHARLESTON, S.C. (CN) — A number of high-profile Republicans candidates have for months jostled for attention in an unusually crowded primary race to become the nominee for South Carolina governor.

Absent amid the chatter of campaign ads and canned speeches has been the one voice most likely to influence the race — Donald Trump's. The president has declined to endorse a candidate to replace his longtime ally, Governor Henry McMaster, leading to a competitive and costly contest that may end in a runoff election.

Local political prognosticators questioned if Trump would risk ruffling feathers by endorsing a candidate. Whoever wins the race is unlikely to lose the general election in the deeply red state.

"He has too many friends down here," Dave Woodard, a veteran GOP strategist, said.

Meanwhile, the two top candidates in the Democratic primary, state Representative Jermaine Johnson and personal injury attorney Mullins McLeod, are seeking to flip the governor's seat for the first time since 1998.

The top four Republican candidates have raised almost $16 million for their campaigns ahead of the June 9 election.

Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, who has McMaster's endorsement, leads fundraising at $3.5 million in cash donations, with an additional $1 million in personal loans, according to campaign finance reports. Attorney General Alan Wilson reported $3.2 million in donations and U.S. Representative Nancy Mace has raised about $2.5 million.

U.S. Representative Ralph W. Norman, a multimillionaire real estate developer, reported $1.7 million in donations, buttressed by an additional $3.75 million in personal loans.

Businessman Rom Reddy, a late entry in the governor's race mostly known for his yearslong legal battle with the state to maintain a private sea wall around his beachfront mansion, has reported no cash donations, fulfilling a campaign pledge not to accept any donations. He has spent $5.8 million on his campaign.

Woodard favors Wilson or Norman to win the primary. Both men are well known in Palmetto political circles, he said.

Wilson, the adopted son of longtime U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, has served as the attorney general for more than 15 years and made national news for his prosecution of notorious ex-attorney Alex Murdaugh.

"Alan Wilson has the pedigree," Woodard said. "His father's a congressman and he's been elected statewide. He's kind of the establishment Columbia candidate."

Norman has represented South Carolina's 5th Congressional District since 2017 and helped found the South Carolina Freedom Caucus, a hardline conservative faction that remains influential in the statehouse.

Woodard said the historical divide between South Carolina's more modern Upstate in the north and the Low Country on the Atlantic coast could benefit Norman, who lives in York across the border from Charlotte. The Upstate is also South Carolina's fastest-growing region, which favors Norman.

Scott Huffmon, a political science professor at Winthrop University, said Norman's name looms large in his district.

"Everywhere you drive in the Rock Hill area, you see Warren Norman signs," Huffmon said, referring to Norman's real estate development company.

But Norman has liabilities, Huffmon said. The representative initially opposed Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" because of national debt concerns before later reversing course. Locally, Norman has faced grief from constituents after two chemical spills at a solar cell plant in his district caused an elementary school to cancel classes.

Huffmon said Trump's fear of "picking a loser" in the race may keep him from endorsing anyone.

"If Trump endorses somebody and they lose — that's poor optics," Huffmon said. "And he cares about optics."

Polls show the top four candidates in a dead heat, but Woodard was skeptical.

"I used to run polls through Clemson when I was there," said Woodard, a retired professor. "And I can tell you — nobody knows anything until about a week before the election when it comes to a primary."

The top two Democrats have raised significantly less money than their opponents. Johnson leads fundraising at about $450,000 in cash contributions compared to about $125,000 raised by McLeod. The founder of the McLeod Law Group in Charleston has personally contributed an additional $2.3 million to his campaign, however.

Johnson, the CEO of a nonprofit, defeated an incumbent to secure his seat in the House in 2020. The 6-foot-7-inch former college basketball player lit up social media last year after giving an impassioned speech on the House floor opposing an anti-diversity, equity and inclusion provision in the state budget.

McLeod comes from a political family. His father, W. Mullins McLeod, was the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's 1st congressional district in 1982 and two uncles served in the statehouse.

McLeod was arrested last year after police said he they found him wandering the streets of downtown Charleston in his underwear "yelling at the top of his lungs." His attorney attributed the incident to a mental health episode and exhaustion.

If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the June 9 primaries, the nomination will be determined in a two-week runoff between the top two finishers.