• Attorney General Alan Wilson is one of six Republicans campaigning for governor of South Carolina.
• Wilson’s platform includes improving education, infrastructure, and healthcare access while cutting government spending.
• Recent polling indicates a close race, with Wilson among the top candidates in the Republican primary.
• The gubernatorial primary is scheduled for June 9 to decide which candidate will advance to the November general election.

Attorney General Alan Wilson started his campaign visit to the Upstate on Monday, May 11, at the Clock of Greer restaurant, where he worked the drive-through window and spoke with diners inside.

Wilson, who has been in the governor’s race since late June, has spent the past 10 months traveling the state and connecting with voters.

Wilson is one of six Republicans running to be South Carolina’s next governor. His competitors are Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, District 1, and Ralph Norman, District 5, DOGE SC founder Rom Reddy, and State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, Spartanburg.

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Wilson brought his campaign for governor to the Upstate, with less than a month left until the primary.

“You learn so much when you go on a listening tour,” Wilson said. “It’s not just about me telling people what I want to do as their governor. It’s about learning from people what they want their governor to do for them.”

Wilson’s campaign platform includes investing in education, improving infrastructure, cutting wasteful government spending, expanding rural healthcare access, and enforcing federal immigration law. After traveling the state, he believes affordability is a top issue for South Carolinians in this election cycle.

“There’s a lot of things going on around the world that we can’t control the price of,” Wilson said. “But there’s things that we can do as a state to react better to it.”

Wilson often polls as a top candidate that Republican voters would choose to support in the primary. A recent poll conducted by The Trafalgar Group, an Atlanta-based polling firm, reported that 23% of likely Republican voters would vote for him in the primaries.

The same poll found that roughly 25% of voters backed Evette, 20% backed Norman, 15% backed Mace, 10% backed Reddy, and 4% backed Kimbrell. Roughly 3% backed Jacqueline Dubose, a Republican candidate who has been disqualified from the primaries. The poll had a 2.9% margin of error.

Wilson said he is running for office to be accessible to South Carolinians and accountable for his actions. He said his experience as a combat veteran and as the state’s attorney general sets him apart from other candidates.

“I have a proven record of serving this state and a proven record of fighting for what people want,” Wilson said. “I believe I will be a great governor.”

The gubernatorial primary will be held on June 9 and will determine which Republican candidate advances to the general election in November. There are also three Democrats running: State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, Richland, Upstate business owner Billy Webster, and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod.

Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Rep. Jim Clyburn appeared on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning and said he remains confident he could win another term in a redistricted South Carolina.

Host Jake Tapper asked Rep. Clyburn what it would mean for South Carolina voters if his seat, which represents the state’s sixth congressional district, was eliminated. The congressman said voters will have the last word and he will run irrespective of the new makeup of his district.

“I don’t know why people think I could not get re-elected if they redistrict South Carolina,” he said before pointing out his district as currently drawn contains about 45% Black voters. “I have no idea what the demo will be after the legislature finishes [redistricting], but whatever that number is I will be running on a record and a promise – my record, and America’s promise.”

Clyburn, as one of the more prominent Democratic voices in American politics in the South over the past several decades, said his pitch to voters won’t change even if his new district is drawn to house more Republicans.

“I think that it is very clear to most people in America that voters, most voters, believe in fundamental fairness, most voters believe in competence, and most voters can tell the difference between a true public servant and someone who may be in it for the next social hit,” he said.

READ MORE | “Opponents raise racial, representation concerns as redistricting debate continues at State House”

The 17-term representative also said he believes Republicans’ redistricting plan could backfire.

“Be very careful what you pray for, because what I do believe is that when they finish with the redistricting, there will be the possibilities of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United States Congress,” he said.

If re-elected, Clyburn would begin his 18th term in Congress in 2027. He has served as South Carolina’s representative for its Sixth Congressional District, which through multiple gerrymanders spanning decades has comprised of different parts of the Pee Dee, Midlands, and Lowcountry in some capacity, since 1993.

State lawmakers have pushed the redistricting issue legislatively in the last week in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. A special session on redistricting passed on Thursday in the State House, and more House legislation to push back congressional primaries to August advanced to the House Judiciary Committee Friday. The issue is expected to be taken back up in Columbia this week.

READ MORE | “SC House panel approves 2-month delay in congressional primary amid redistricting push”