With five expected GOP candidates now in the 2026 gubernatorial race, South Carolina political observers say the party’s primary is already shaping up as a race to the right. Meanwhile, state Democrats are still trying to get their acts together.

According to Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon, that’s because the state GOP has “evolved into a more activist-style” party since this century’s Tea Party era, when a wave of new voters got involved in Republican politics.

And that means this year’s GOP candidates — Greenville businesswoman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Spartanburg state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, First District U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, Fifth District U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson of Columbia — are all working to deliver a message that ap

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