The November race for governor in the major nuclear state of South Carolina is now set after state Attorney General Alan Wilson defeated Lieutenant Gov. Pamela Evette, who was backed by President Trump, in a GOP primary runoff last week.
Wilson, who as attorney general spearheaded litigation over a cancelled project at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, will now face off against state Rep. Jermaine Johnson (D) in November. Johnson won the Democratic Party primary a few weeks ago.
The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. reported that Wilson won 43 of 46 counties, including some where Evette had finished ahead of him in a multi-candidate Republican primary.
As attorney general, Wilson sued after DOE failed to complete the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility. The MOX project was cancelled because of mushrooming costs, but the building is now being developed for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility.
Wilson, a colonel in the South Carolina National Guard is also the adopted son of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R). Johnson owns a consulting firm and played basketball professionally in Europe and the NBA Developmental League, now called the NBA G League.