South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who has sued the Department of Energy while in his current post, will face Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a primary runoff on June 23 to determine who will be the Republican nominee for governor in the November election.
President Donald Trump has endorsed Evette while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has endorsed Wilson. Before becoming lieutenant governor, Evette was CEO of a payroll and human resources company, according to her bio. Wilson is the adopted son of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). Wilson is a colonel in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps for the South Carolina Army National Guard and was previously deployed to Iraq. As attorney general, Wilson was part of a legal settlement with DOE over the cancelled mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility at the Savannah River Site.
In a six-candidate primary field, Evette claimed 29% of the vote to Wilson’s 26%, according to South Carolina election results. Because neither candidate won 50%, the top two vote getters advance to the June 23 runoff.
The winner will face Jermaine Johnson, who won the Democratic Primary with nearly 60% of the vote in a three-way primary race. Johnson is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who played basketball professionally in Mexico and Europe.
Two current members of the South Carolina congressional delegation finished out of the money in the GOP primary. Rep. Ralph Norman (House Rules Committee) and Rep. Nancy Mace (House Armed Services) finished well behind Evette and Wilson.
The gubernatorial candidates are running to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster in this southern state with a large nuclear footprint, which includes DOE’s Savannah River Site and several commercial nuclear power plants.