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SC Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to make ‘special announcement’ next week

Originally published by WIS News 10 Staff and Patrick Phillips on July 7, 2025

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS/WCSC) – South Carolina’s lieutenant governor, who has been expected to enter the governor’s race, is set to make a special announcement early next week.

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette invited supporters to the announcement on July 14 at The Smokestack at Judson Mill in Greenville, WIS-TV reported.

The invitation was not clear about the reason for the announcement, but Evette has been considered a likely candidate for the race to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster.

If Evette were to announce her campaign, she would be joining a Republican primary field that includes current South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and Upstate Sen. Josh Kimbrell.

McMaster, the longest-serving governor in state history, rose to the role from lieutenant governor when then-Gov. Nikki Haley stepped down to serve as an ambassador for the United Nations during the first Donald Trump administration in 2017. After he completed her term, McMaster was then elected to two full terms of his own.

An early poll conducted back in March gave Evette a slight edge over other Republicans considered at the time to be likely gubernatorial contenders. Evette pulled a 31% lead among those surveyed, compared to Wilson’s 27% of the vote.

First District Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who has not officially announced a run but said she was considering one back in January, came in second place in that poll at 29%, while Fifth District Congressman Ralph Norman came in with 11%.

On the other side of the ticket, Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson recently formed an exploratory committee around a possible run for governor.

AUDIO: Lt. Gov Evette was in Rock Hill this week talking issues and whether or not she will run for Gov in 26

Originally posted by WRHI AM 1340 on July 3, 2025

Lt. Governor Pamela Evette spoke with OTS Media Group’s Manning Kimmel prior to a Town Hall in Rock Hill hosted by America’s Future Trust and the Republican State Leadership Committee.

Click here to listen now!

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette visits Lowcountry to discuss energy, education, taxes

by Summer Huechtker, originally published June 11, 2025 by WCSC Live 5

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette paid a visit to the Lowcountry for a town hall in downtown Charleston.

She joined the America’s Future Trust Social Welfare Organization and the Republican State Leadership Committee at a public town hall at Henry’s On The Market, discussing the future of the country.

Just before the town hall, attendees were able to submit questions to ask Lt. Gov. Evette.

During the discussion, moderated by former Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Joe Semsar, Evette addressed topics ranging from technology and energy efficiency and her recent meeting with the Department of Government Efficiency.

Evette her goal is to get South Carolina to a zero-state income tax state and she touched on how to do that.

“You don’t have to keep leveraging high taxes and pushing it down your citizens’ throats,” Evetter said. “That’s where we are, and we have to keep going.”

Evette made a point to praise the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office’s recent ICE sting at a nightclub, when asked about ICE raids happening across the country. She also praised law enforcement as a whole in South Carolina, saying they have done a great job with de-escalation in other protests in recent months and years.

Evette discussed the need to continue cracking down on human trafficking and the fentanyl crisis in the state.

Big focus points for her were technology, education and empowering the next generation, mentioning the workforce initiative that she started.

“As I was touring around to businesses that employ youth, I was at ZF Transmissions up in the Upstate,” Evette said. “So I met this young man. Super impressive. He said, ‘Yeah, I was going to go to Clemson, but I love what I do so much, I realized I love being hands-on. So ZF Transmission said to finish up my degree in mechatronics, work for a year, and we will send you to Clemson if you figure out you want to do that.’”

Evette said that was a testament to the growth of workforce training and technical colleges in S.C.

“And I said, ‘What do we do to get all your friends on this train?’” she said. “And he said, ‘Tell us why you need us.’”

Evette encouraged everyone in attendance to empower the youth and wrapped up saying she hopes everyone left with a sense of pride for their state and country.

South Carolina Lede: Grand Strand with Pam

by Gavin Jackson, originally published June 7, 2025 on SC Public Radio

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for June 7, 2025: state Democrats got a boost with a big special election House seat win; Lt. Gov. Pam Evette continues to test the waters; we look at some of the ramifications of the tariffs on businesses in our region; and more!

Click HERE to Listen Now

‘Big decisions’ to come as Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette considers run for S.C. Gov.

by Andrew Brown, originally posed by My Horry News on June 4, 2025

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette hasn’t announced a run for governor, but she’s moving and speaking like a candidate.

Her most recent stop in the Palmetto State brought her back to Horry County — where she and her family own a home — for a townhall at Veterans Cafe and Grille in Myrtle Beach on Tuesday evening, June 3.

Speaking to a packed crowd of approximately 100 Republicans — many sporting President Donald Trump themed apparel and spilling out the doors of the cafe — Evette shook hands, posed for photos and delivered a message heavy on economic growth and conservative values.

“I’m excited for South Carolina because we have a lot of great things happening,” Evette said.

She fielded questions from the audience, touching on core conservative issues — including cracking down on illegal immigration, backing law enforcement and cutting taxes. But no issue got more of a reaction from the crowd than the idea of eliminating South Carolina’s state income tax.

“I’ll be very clear. We can and will get South Carolina to a zero state income tax. We are U-Haul’s number one drop off state. The secret’s out, people, we can’t turn on a ‘closed’ sign,” Evette said. “We are now competing against other states: Tennessee, Florida, Texas. They’ve done it, and we can do it.”

Evette said her and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have worked closely with the Trump administration during their tenure. McMaster was sworn in as Governor in 2017 following former Gov. Nikki Haley’s appointment as Ambassador to the United Nations, and Evette was elected Lt. Gov. in Nov. 2018. Both McMaster and Evette were re-elected to four-year terms in 2022.

“I think we have had a great legacy. We’ve seen amazing growth and change within our state, lots of amazing things are happening, and there’s still a lot left on the docket left to do,” Evette said. “I think the key part is just our amazing relationship with the Trump administration and being able to work with them hand in glove. So, I’m really excited about things to come.”

Evette touts workforce development, Trump ties in Myrtle Beach ahead of possible gubernatorial run

by Adam Benson, originally posted by WBTW News 2 June 4, 2025

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Pamela Evette is among the handful of big-name Republicans whose names are tied to next year’s gubernatorial race, and she spent time in Myrtle Beach on Monday touting her record of success.

The Ohio native has been in office since 2019, when Gov. Henry McMaster selected her as a running mate.

Evette hasn’t formally said whether she’s planning a run for the state’s highest office, but has been linked to the job along with other contenders, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Mace, in particular, has launched attacks against both.

“Gov. McMaster has said that I’m the best lieutenant governor in the country. President Trump said I was doing a great job, so I’ll take their compliments over Nancy Mace’s criticisms any day,” Evette said following a town hall meeting at Veterans Cafe and Grille. “I’m going to continue to do what I do. I’m going to help business, I’m going to work on school choice.”

Evette said she hasn’t yet committed to running for governor, but hinted at the likelihood as she spoke with reporters.

“Now that session is over, this is the time to start to think about what’s going to happen but I do believe this legacy that the governor and I have had does need to continue on. I think it’s been very successful, and it’s worked very well for the people of South Carolina.”

Earlier in the night, Evette said building up technical college systems is the best way to build an employee pipeline for manufacturers.

“We can do better creating a workforce for tomorrow, and we can do that by ‘let’s start reappropriating some of this money going to big colleges, and let’s give it to our technical college system,’” she said. “It is something that I’ve been talking about for the seven years that I’ve been in office.”

Lt. Gov. Evette at Myrtle Beach town hall ahead of possible run for SC governor

by Andrew James, originally posted June 3, 2025 by ABC 15 News

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WPDE) — Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette fielded questions in front of Myrtle Beach residents during a town hall meeting on Tuesday night.

Although Evette has not officially announced her candidacy for South Carolina Governor, discussions within the county and state Republican Party suggest she may be considering a bid to succeed Henry McMaster.

Evette, who has served as lieutenant governor for nearly seven years following a career in accounting, shared her vision for South Carolina’s future.

She emphasized the importance of expanding school vouchers, eliminating the state income tax, and leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance government efficiency.

“We are now competing against those other states, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas. They’ve done it. We can do it. We’re going to implement DOGE here in South Carolina,” Evette said. “We can cut taxes and be more efficient, and we’ve got to take a broad, comprehensive look at taxes in general.”

A majority of the town hall involved Evette’s views on Trump’s policies and whether she would support seeing those practices on the state level. Evette envisioned a push for more government efficiency and suggested lawmakers set sunset dates on all state regulations required to be reformed after a certain threshold of time for every regulation at the state level.

“We’re never going to be able to hire enough people to outpace the growth we have in our state,” Evette said. “If you do things more efficiently, there’s more money at the end of the month.”

Evette also shared her support for the state to send more support to technical colleges to promote building upon the need for stronger cybersecurity and a blue-collar workforce.

“When we do that, we’re going to see educational outcomes soar,” Evette said. “When you have hope, nothing will stop you. And that’s what I see. That’s what I’m excited about. That’s what I like to talk about.”

The town hall event was not part of Evette’s formal schedule as lieutenant governor. She is expected to return to Myrtle Beach later this week for the 10th Annual Carolina Country Music Fest this weekend.

Potential South Carolina governor candidate weighs in on judicial reform, government efficiency

By Matthew Christian, originally posted by the Aiken Standard on May 28, 2025

AIKEN — A potential Republican gubernatorial nominee supports changes to how most judges are elected in the Palmetto State and efforts to make South Carolina’s government more efficient.

Lt. Governor Pamela Evette was asked about both topics during a question-and-answer session at a May 27 Aiken Republican Republican Club meeting at Newberry Hall.

“Do you support changing the election of judges by the legislature and can it be done in South Carolina,” an anonymous person asked Evette via an index card.

The 170-member South Carolina General Assembly elects South South Carolina Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit Court and Family Court judges. The governor nominates and the Senate confirms magistrate judges and masters-in-equity. Probate court judges are elected by popular vote.

Evette said she supported a system in which the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit Court and Family Court judges would be nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

“The governor should appoint and the Senate should confirm and when you do that it pretty much falls on the back of of one person,” Evette continued.

If implemented in the Palmetto State, the nomination-and-confirmation process would mirror how federal judges are selected.

“Like the governor has said… I believe the federal system is really, really good,” Evette said.

There are concerns that the lawyer-legislators serving in the South Carolina General Assembly — in 2023, 46% of the state’s senators and 27% of the state’s representatives were lawyers — could slow or stall the process to preserve the current system.

“Well, we said tort reform couldn’t be done, but it got done this year,” Evette continued. “So, I think anything can happen.”

Another anonymous question writer asked Evette about the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid.

“Medicaid was never meant to give to non-U.S. citizens and that’s what they’re stopping,” Evette said.

Evette added that she’s a huge fan of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

“I’m an accountant by trade for all of you who don’t know,” Evette said.

Evette and her husband, David, founded Quality Business Solutions, an Upstate firm that helps businesses with accounting and human resources.

“I used to call it efficiency when I was in public accounting,” Evette said. “I worked with companies to learn how to be efficient… and utilize the money that they had to grow their businesses. That’s what President Trump is doing now. That’s what Elon Musk is doing now.”

The state of South Carolina is constitutionally mandated to have a balanced budget — expenses are equal to revenues — unlike the federal government, Evette continued. And the state’s rainy day fund is as big as it’s ever been, she added.

“I don’t believe that we are sending money to foreign entities to do Sesame Street and some weird language that I don’t even know,” Evette said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development provided $20 million to fund an Iraqi version of the popular children’s program, Musk said earlier this year. The DOGE team has eliminated that grant but there are still several legal challenges to DOGE’s actions ongoing.

“But can we be more efficient? Yes,” Evette said. “The best of companies will tell you they can always run more efficiently. Should we leverage AI? Should we leverage technology? Absolutely we should. Because that’s how you save money.”

Making the state more efficient is part of the path to lower and eliminate the state’s income tax rates, Evette said.

“I have said forever, I want to see South Carolina be a zero-state income tax state,” she added. “But you have to be able to do that by being efficient, right? You have to be able to walk and chew your gum at the same time.”

Evette is one of several candidates considering a bid for the 2026 Republican nomination.

Other potential candidates include S.C. Sens. Sean Bennett and Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Filing for the nomination will open next March. The primary and any needed runoffs will be held next June.

Early poll gives SC lieutenant governor edge in 2026 race
By Nick Reagan; Originally Published: Mar. 12, 2025 by WCSC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Extremely early polling shows South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette with a slight lead among likely Republican voters in the state’s 2026 governor’s race.

The Trafalgar Group, an Atlanta-based political research group, polled 1,127 likely Republican voters between March 8-10 and found 31 percent of voters said they would vote for Evette.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who represents South Carolina’s First Congressional District, locked in 29 percent while Attorney General Alan Wilson maintains a close third with 27 percent of the vote.

About 11 percent said they’d vote for Rep. Ralph Norman, who represents the state’s Fifth Congressional District.

While prospective candidates are starting to position themselves for a run at the governor’s mansion, no one has officially announced their intentions yet.

The same poll questioned voters on how they feel about a variety of issues, including the performance of the president, tort reform and changes to state income tax.

On President Donald Trump’s work in office so far, the poll showed 73.7 percent of South Carolina Republicans approve of how he’s handling the job.

The poll shows there’s strong support, nearly 65 percent, for House Bill H. 3497, which would reform liquor liability for bars and restaurants but less support for the current tort reforms in Senate Bill S.244. Nearly 55 percent of those polled said they view the bill unfavorably.

When it comes to eliminating the state income tax through House Bill 3733, more than 80 percent of people polled supported the idea. However, the question set sets up respondents to believe cutting state income tax would generate more revenue by spending cuts and making the state more competitive.

The polls also found strong support for an SC DOGE with about 75 percent of people saying they view House Resolution 3926 and Senate Resolution 318 favorably or very favorably. 44 percent said it’s their top legislative priority.Those who responded to the poll were primarily white and over the age of 65 with a near even split between men and women.

The group reports a 2.9 percent margin of error.

Click here to read the full findings.

The State House Gavel: 2026 watch

Excerpt from South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter, Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney
Originally Published February 20, 2025

We’re still in a watch, not even a warning, in the 2026 governor’s race.

Traditionally, we expect to see announcements in the spring and summer before the subsequent June 2026 primary.

Nevertheless — while no one has opened a 2026 gubernatorial campaign account yet — there is still money floating out there.

Especially in the direction of Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

The Post and Courier’s Caitlin Byrd first reported that “a network of President Donald Trump’s advisers, staff and political consultants are lining up behind South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, launching a new super PAC to boost her prospects as a leading contender if she decides to run for governor next year.”

Patriots for South Carolina PAC has already raised $5 million.

A Trump endorsement will be one the most critical factors in this statewide race in which many Republican contenders occupy a similar policy lane.

Who we’re watching right now:

  • Evette, a self-made millionaire and former president and CEO of Quality Business Solutions in Travelers Rest, was recently spotted sitting in the front row in the East Room when the president signed an executive order banning transgender players on women’s sports teams.
  • 1st District Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a former state lawmaker, who has put her focus over the last year on legislation that targets the transgender community. At that same White House event, Trump acknowledged Mace’s work. In a post on XWednesday, Mace posted the Post and Courier article about the PAC, referring to Evette as a “a nice lady.”
  • Attorney General Alan Wilson, who also became of a focus of Mace’s criticism from a fiery House floor speech — criticisms that Wilson denies — but has kept busy joining other attorneys general in federal-focused lawsuits. Over the past two years, Wilson has also joined Republican efforts to tweak the state’s judicial vetting and election process.