Ralph Norman

COLUMBIA — One week from today, on June 23, Republican primary voters will head to the polls to cast their ballot for one of the two candidates to survive this year’s crowded GOP gubernatorial primary: Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette or Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Internal numbers from Wilson’s campaign floated across the internet over the weekend make it appear as if voters’ minds are largely made up, with Wilson leading and low-double-digit percentages of voters still undecided.

Evette’s team, meanwhile, has consistently disputed the accuracy of Wilson’s numbers.

Wilson’s recent endorsement by former congressman Ralph Norman — who finished third in the primary with 17 percent of the vote — only upped the intrigue, particularly as both candidates continue to compete for shares of Norman’s followers in the five counties he carried in the first round of voting on June 9.

But a lot can change in seven days. And with the time for closing arguments upon them, both campaigns are working overtime to not only make the case they are the right person for the job, but that their opponent is not.

Here’s the latest from the campaign trail in The Post and Courier’s Sprint roundup.

Debate preparations

All eyes will be on Coastal Carolina University the night of June 16 for the final Republican debate between Wilson and Evette, who has largely avoided head-to-head appearances with her opponents during this election cycle.

The debate runs from 7-8 p.m. and is sponsored by the South Carolina Republican Party in partnership with Gray Media and Tourism Works for the Grand Strand.

Gray Media stations in the state include WCSC (Live 5 News - CBS in Charleston), WIS (WIS News 10 - NBC in Columbia), WHNS (FOX Carolina in Greenville/Spartanburg) and WMBF (WMBF News - NBC in Myrtle Beach).

The format will largely hinge around policy and the differences between the two candidates in how they will approach the job of running the state.

But it will also present the candidates’ best opportunity to poke at one another’s weaknesses.

Hints at both sides’ approaches have already been broached in some of the so-called “pushes” used in internal polling meant to test the effectiveness of various attack lines.

Some of Evette’s smack’s have been about Wilson’s role in the Statehouse corruption probe in the mid-2010s (which his campaign notes he helped launch).

Also, the AG has used private law firms for major lawsuits (the structure for which was established under the McMaster-Evette administration, Wilson argues) and the 126 percent pay raise he received from the state Agency Head Salary Commission, which also approved pay raises for the lieutenant governor and governor that will take effect under the incoming administration.

Wilson, stylistically, has been less prone to direct attacks on his opponents during debates. It is unclear whether that will continue onstage in Conway.

But his campaign has been noticeably more aggressive in its posture toward Evette as it seeks to overlook the successes of her tenure as Gov. Henry McMaster’s lieutenant governor. One area could be the recent $150 million in cost overruns by the S.C. Department of Commerce associated with site preparation at the new Scout Motors factory outside of Columbia.

Wilson has signaled some potential vulnerabilities in his internal polls, including message testing that Evette — who is from Ohio — is a “Northern liberal masquerading as a Southern conservative, who got rich pushing woke DEI policies, helped foreign companies hire foreign workers over Americans, and even funded drag queen shows.”

His campaign has also regularly prodded Evette’s ties to McMaster himself, including recent rumors (fueled by President Donald Trump) that the governor’s son, Henry McMaster Jr., would be Evette’s running mate. That rumor ultimately did not come true.

The James Smith saga continues

Another line of attack from the Evette campaign came last week when several of her supporters in the legislature accused Wilson of attempting to whip support for former Democratic governor candidate James Smith in his unsuccessful bid for a judge’s post over Public Service Commissioner Justin Williams, whom Wilson’s campaign labeled as the lesser of two evils in a race between two Democrats.

Williams, who currently serves in a non-partisan role for the state, is bound by the judicial code of conduct and was unable to comment on the statement from the Wilson campaign. But Evette’s team says Wilson purposefully mischaracterized Williams’ politics in order to defend Smith’s candidacy, which did not receive a vote before the legislature until several months after Williams dropped out of the race.

“The person Smith was running against, Justin Williams, is an African American that is not affiliated with any party,” Megan Finnern, Evette’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “If you ask him, or anyone who knows him, he’s a moderate. Perhaps someone should ask Alan what led him to incorrectly assume that Mr. Williams is a Democrat.”

Wilson’s campaign declined comment.

What’s next for Ralph Norman?

Norman’s endorsement of Wilson for governor also included a surprising announcement: the creation of a so-called “Legislative Accountability Institute of South Carolina,” which he said would be used to expose wasteful spending, track vote records and work to oppose state lawmakers whose votes misalign with the group’s definition of “conservative values.”