Crossroads 2026: Another Poll Shows Pamela Evette Surging

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by WILL FOLKS

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South Carolina lieutenant governor Pamela Evette‘s bid to spend her way into contention in the 2026 governor’s race is continuing to pay off handsomely, according to the results of yet another survey of Palmetto State Republican primary voters.

According to a new poll from the Atlanta, Georgia-based Trafalgar Group – founded by legendary national strategist and pollster Robert Cahaly – Evette placed first among the five announced GOP contenders with 19.9% of the vote.

Cahaly’s survey had S.C. first district congresswoman Nancy Mace in second place at 15.8%, followed by four-term attorney general Alan Wilson (12.4%), fifth district congressman Ralph Norman (9.3%) and scandal-scarred S.C. senator Josh Kimbrell (1.3%).

A whopping 41.3% of the GOP electorate remains undecided, per the Trafalgar poll.

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BREAKING: @trafalgar_group SC Governor Primary Poll (09/29-10/1)

SC Gov:
19.9% @PamelaEvette
15.8% @NancyMace
12.4% @AGAlanWilson
9.3% @RalphNorman
1.3% @JoshKimbrellSC
41.3% Und

See full report: https://t.co/YemK9W2Pus pic.twitter.com/1AMhqmWa80

— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) October 6, 2025

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As we reported two weeks ago, a survey from another pollster showed Evette on Mace’s heels – trailing her by one percentage point. That survey also showed a big chunk of the GOP electorate – 35% – identifying as undecided.

Trafalgar previously polled the governor’s race in March – a survey which showed Evette narrowly leading Wilson and Mace despite her lack of name identification. According to Cahaly, that survey was limited to “habitual” GOP primary voters – i.e. those who have voted in multiple prior primaries who are closely following legislative issues.

Cahaly added the initial Trafalgar poll included only responses from this narrower universe who indicated a preference in the governor’s race.

“This is our first real poll in this race,” Cahaly said, referring to the survey released this week.

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In addition to providing an updated glimpse at the status of the GOP gubernatorial ballot in South Carolina, Cahaly’s latest survey also provided a look at the purported favorability ratings of the candidates. On that metric, Wilson led the way with 43.1% favorability – followed by Mace (40%), Evette (36.1%) and Norman (31.9%). Mace led the unfavorable count with 48.1%, per the survey, followed by Wilson (25.4%), Norman (24.5%) and Evette (22.8%).

Only 11.9% of Republicans had “never heard” of Mace, compared to 31.4% who had never heard of Wilson, 41.1% who had never heard of Evette and 43.6% who had never heard of Norman.

Mace campaign manager Austin McCubbin slammed the results, stating that if the first survey was accurate – Evette has dropped 11.6% in the polls despite spending $2 million on “desperation media.”

Trafalgar surveyed 1,094 likely GOP primary voters between September 30 and October 2, 2025 for its latest survey. The poll’s margin of error was +/- 2.9%.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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