President Donald Trump has a nearly 100% success rate with endorsements this year in GOP primaries, yet Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman are convinced they can beat the commander in chief’s preferred pick to be the next governor of South Carolina.
Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette late last week, dealing a blow to the GOP field, which also includes state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Candidates in South Carolina need to secure more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. With Trump’s support, Evette likely becomes the front-runner, but whether the endorsement can propel her to outright victory remains to be seen. Polling has not shown much daylight between the top contenders.
Despite the president weighing in, Republicans are sticking out the brutal primary to the end.
Norman moved forward with his campaign Monday, nearly a week before the June 9 primary. He announced state Rep. Adam Morgan, a member of the state Legislature’s Freedom Caucus, as his running mate and dubbed them the “freedom caucus ticket.”
“Adam has spent his career fighting the career politicians in Columbia, standing up for taxpayers, taking on special interests, and refusing to back down from the woke left or tax-and-spend RINOs,” Norman wrote on X. “Together, we’re building what may be the most conservative ticket this state has ever seen!!”
The crowded primary could advance to a runoff election, scheduled for June 23, if none of the six candidates receive an outright majority among Republican voters early next month. Mace has also decided to remain in the race, despite the presidential snub.
“I will not change my positions,” Mace wrote on X last week. “I will not abandon my principles. And I will never stop demanding accountability from institutions that have failed South Carolina, and our nation, regardless of the political cost.”
Wilson also said he would stay in the race.
Several Republican incumbents this cycle remained in primaries even as Trump endorsed another candidate.
Trump-backed primary challengers dealt decisive losses to Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) last month.
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But the odds of victory for Mace, Norman, and Wilson aren’t favorable.
“President Trump’s endorsement is the most important factor in any Republican primary across the country,” a senior GOP campaign strategist told the Washington Examiner. “If you’re on the losing side of that, you’re just taking up oxygen and sailing toward your own demise.”
Cornyn lost by nearly 30 points, Cassidy didn’t reach the threshold to make it into a runoff with the top two candidates, and Massie lost by nearly 10 points.