Episode Details

🎙️ Political Trade Secrets: First in the South Politics: South Carolina’s 2026 Primaries, Trump, Redistricting, Murdaugh & the Road to 2028

President Trump’s endorsement of Pamela Evette just rocked South Carolina’s wide-open governor’s race, but the fallout may be even bigger than the endorsement itself.

In this episode of Political Trade Secrets, Dustin Olson is joined by Will Folks, founding editor of South Carolina’s top political news outlet, FITSNews, to break down the closing days of the 2026 South Carolina primaries, the Trump endorsement, the Henry McMaster JR. running-mate controversy, the growing blowback inside the GOP, and what it all means for the race for governor.

From there, the conversation pulls back the curtain on the deeper power structure shaping South Carolina politics: McMaster's failed Republican redistricting push, Lindsey Graham’s survival strategy, Jim Clyburn’s political machine, the Murdaugh retrial, and why South Carolina’s “First in the South” presidential primary remains one of the most important political proving grounds heading into 2028.

This is not just a South Carolina politics episode. It is a behind-the-scenes look at how endorsements, money, scandals, media narratives, political machines, and raw political power collide in one of the most consequential states in American politics.

The episode explores:

• How Trump’s endorsement of Pam Evette could reshape the South Carolina governor’s race

• Why Gov. McMaster getting Pres. Trump to announce his son Henry McMaster Jr. as Evette's running-mate controversy is getting blowback inside the GOP

• What the latest South Carolina polling reveals about current frontrunner Alan Wilson, darkhorse Rom Reddy, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, and Pamela Evette

• Why Will Folks says South Carolina is not just “Uni-Party,” but “Uni-Branch”

• What the failed redistricting push reveals about Henry McMaster, Jim Clyburn, and the South Carolina political establishment

• How Sen. Lindsey Graham keeps surviving Republican primary challenges

• How the Murdaugh murder retrial following jury tampering exposes deeper problems inside South Carolina’s legal and judicial system

• Why South Carolina’s 2026 primaries could shape the 2028 First in the South presidential primary

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