Current South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace are favorites among GOP voters in next year’s open Governor’s race, according to a recent Trafalgar Group poll.
The poll found Evette leading, with nearly 20% support among respondents. Mace trailed with just shy of 16% support. Only one other contender, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, hit double-digit support, with just over 12%. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman pulled 9% support while state Sen. Josh Kimbrell landed at just 1% support.
But the biggest takeaway are the number of respondents who are still undecided, more than 41%, showing candidates still have plenty of opportunity to grow support.
But it also shows some potential trouble ahead for Mace. Asked about candidates’ favorability, Mace was underwater, with 48% holding an unfavorable opinion of her compared to just 40% who favor her. Less than 12% of respondents didn’t know her, meaning she doesn’t have a lot of the electorate left to woo.
Evette, meanwhile, will need to boost her name recognition, with 41% of respondents indicating they had never heard of her. But she’s above water in favorability, at 36% to 23%.
Mace has largely been positioned as the front-runner. As a vocal critic on transgender issues who often makes headline-grabbing comments, and who is a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, Mace was expected to be the one to beat.
But this isn’t the first poll showing a potentially tight race between her and Evette. A recent poll from co-efficient found Mace leading, but at a statistically insignificant margin of just one percentage point, at 19% support to 18% for Evette.
The poll was conducted September 30 to October 2 and included 1094 likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters.
The poll has a 2.9% margin of error.
