Pamela Evette for South Carolina Governor Live from North Myrtle Beach May 26, 2026

GRAND STRAND POLITICS SPECIAL EVENT

Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette Campaign Event in Myrtle Beach

In this special event edition of Grand Strand Politics, we bring you coverage of a campaign stop by Pamela Evette as she met with supporters and community leaders in the Myrtle Beach area during the growing race for Governor of South Carolina.

The event featured remarks from several prominent local and state leaders, including North Myrtle Beach Mayor Jay Baldwin, State Representative Tim McGinnis, and Horry County Sherriff Phillip Thompson, each speaking about Evette’s leadership, business background, and vision for the future of the state.

A major moment during the event came with the endorsement of Lieutenant Governor Evette by the South Carolina firefighters organization, adding further support from the public safety community as the gubernatorial campaign continues to take shape.

This episode captures the speeches, atmosphere, and conversations from the gathering as supporters discussed the direction of South Carolina, the upcoming election, and the issues likely to define the campaign ahead.

Topics discussed include:

• Economic growth and business development
 • Public safety and support for first responders
 • Leadership experience in state government
 • The evolving South Carolina governor’s race
 • Local and statewide political priorities

Host Randal Wallace also extends an open invitation to the other gubernatorial candidates in either party: if your campaign lets us know when you are visiting the Grand Strand, Grand Strand Politics would be glad to attend and produce podcast coverage of your event as well.

This special event continues our commitment to bringing listeners direct access to South Carolina politics as it happens — with on-the-ground coverage from across the Grand Strand and beyond.

A campaign stop.
 A growing statewide race.
 And another chapter in the road to the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

That elected public officials have on the lives of all first responders, residents and visitors of the state of South Carolina. And whereas Pamela S. Ever has honorably served as Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina for nearly eight years with unwavering dedication in whereas, whether discussing firefighter cancer protections, retirement security, workforce retirement, and retention challenges or the operational realities facing departments in both rural and urban communities, Lieutenant Governor Abbott has consistently demonstrated a clear understanding of the demands placed upon the fire service. And we're asked, Pamela S. Hebbett has shown a steadfast commitment to firefighters and public safety by working closely with Professional Firefighters Association of South Carolina to improve health, safety, benefits, and staffing throughout the state. And we're asked, Pamela S. Abbott has always met with our leadership, listened to our members, and engaged on the issues that directly impact firefighters and all first responders across the state of South Carolina. We're asked, South Carolina firefighters respond to emergency emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, facing increasing flow violence, evolving hazards, occupational health risks, and mounting pressures on staffing and resources. And Emma S. Ebbett is a leader who understands that public safety is not an abstract talking point, but a daily operational reality. And whereas Emma S. Ebbett has worked diligently to provide the best possible working conditions within our authority as Lieutenant Governor during both favorable and challenging times to the benefit of our members and their families, now therefore be a result that the membership of the Professional Firefighters Association in South Carolina assembled on this day a general membership has unanimously voted to proudly endorse Emma S. Ebbett as our candidate of choice for office of South Carolina governor. All right, so we're gonna do this together. So seriously, we're gonna stand up, we're gonna stand brought, and we're gonna stand together behind the camera for both.

SPEAKER_06 3:20

And uh we are gonna go live to the event of event that was held here in Murray a couple of days ago.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Very proud of what the city has done to protect Ways Island and Tim Point. Um protecting it to be a state park and so that all of our residents can enjoy it in a natural state for many years to come. And this project would not have been possible without the help of our governor, Henry McMaster, and our lieutenant governor, Pimble Hebrew. Because of her committed, demonstrating committed support of our natural resources, it is mine to support her for the next governor of the state of South Carolina.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Take a guess.

SPEAKER_04 6:18

So I was just holding that on the internet, so quite remember when Pam took office, according to Wikipedia, which is never wrong. She took office in January 2019, one year after I took office. And I got to know her over the years. And I'd heard bad things about the previous lieutenant governors and governors and their relationships with the legislature that they didn't want to work with you. Guess where I met Pam? I met her on the House floor. Guess where I saw her almost every week during session from 2019 until just a couple weeks ago? On the House floor. People want to say there's no experience. There's a lot of experience.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

There's a lot of experience.

unknown 7:00

Start your own business.

SPEAKER_04 7:01

Go into a huge business. Bought a house and traveler's rest. More importantly, where else would you buy a house? North Myrtle Beach. Didn't mean to have Myrtle Beach there. But listen, she is a go-getter. She is somebody who I put this out on Facebook last night, and I hope some of you in here are unsure of who you're going to vote for. And I hope when you listen to Pam, and if you get to speak to Pam afterwards, you're going to realize that she is the right person for the job. The way I knew is because I think I introduced him to her, but I can't be sure. Don Bam, raise your hand. There he is. That's Magadon. Magadon came into my restaurant. I think a day or so after he met her at an event and sat down with her and had breakfast. And guess what? I think Magadon might be the number one Pam Ebbett supporter out there. So, Magadon, everybody who supports Pam Evan, God bless you. God bless South Carolina. And let's make Pam Ebbett the obvious choice, our next governor. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

All these smiling faces, and I must say, good-looking faces. Welcome to the night. Here we are. We're always talking about eating donuts and dragging hungers. Here we are tonight to talk about something like that. Me and our daughter is going to be our next daughter. A person can be described her so you don't. That's what I want to talk about. We all have a really good idea about her government, what she does, her stance. But what I wanted to talk about was the person, the lady. Andy that one person, one lady, one person that cares so much about each and every one, also had the opportunity to sit down and talk with her. And I thought we were going to be talking about politics. What we talked about is family. What we talked about was values. What we talked about was what this state needs, what our country needs. How refreshing it was to sit there and talk with her and return in what I thought was going to be about a 30-minute conversation, which about an hour and a half. I think Schnell is sitting there shopping worry about what the sheriff's doing. But this lady cares. She cares so much. And she is the same point that we elect people to our offices that are good people. And if you know the governing part, and they talk politics and they talk things, and sometimes people say what you want to hear. But she genuinely cares about our system. She cares about our state. She cares about our youth. She cares about our public safety. And talking to the Fire Fighters Association giving this form, gosh, I mean something on there's going to do that. I'd have one written up really quick. The person that we be in our statehouse as our government. Like Peter Tom prayed one day about the person that will make the difference. And that is Pamela Vett. Only voting started today. I got there early this morning. I voted for Pamela Event real early this morning with the polls over. Talk about ten folks, have them talk to ten, and have them talk to them. Now you're going to say, did I take ten? No, I didn't take ten with me this morning. But when I walked in an officer just on my panel, they said you voted, and I said, yeah, we sign you up right now. Let me tell you who I want to ask you to vote for. And that's family every.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

I can't tell you how honored, what an honor it's been to serve as your lieutenant governor for now almost eight years. And we have done so many wonderful things. And I look out in the audience, and so many of you I met early on. And you have just been such a support system for me for the last eight years, and now you're here with me again. And I can't tell you how much it means to the sheriff, to um the firefighters, to the entire delegation here in Old Reek County. If you're here, raise your hands and we can give you a round of applause because you are doing amazing work. Tim is back here. Raise your hands and let everybody give you a round of applause. They have really worked hard. Um, to redistrict, and they did it quickly, trying to get up seven strong conservative Republicans to send to DC to push Donald Trump's American forest agenda. The last eight years have been a moral win, but we've accomplished so much. From giving your largest tax cuts, dating tax cuts in the state's history, to supporting our law enforcement and giving them the biggest raises that they've ever had. And in July of last year, because of all the amazing success that the governor and I have had and not mentioned, I have the full endorsement of Governor Henry McMaster. Because of the support of all of you, because of your phone calls and your text and your encouragement in July of 25, I threw my hand in the ring to run for South Carolina's next governor. Governor of this amazing state. And from July to December, I've traveled 46 counties. We have sat down and had round tables. We have sat down and had make rates. Because I want to hear what everybody has to say. I want to hear what everybody's ideas and dreams for South Carolina are all about. I don't just want to be the governor for big business, I want to be the governor for small business too. I don't want to be just the governor for big urban suburban areas. I want to be the governor for our rural areas, for our foreigners. Those are big important things here. But if you put hospitality and tourism together, and you put an agriculture and forestry together, they arm wrestle each other for what brings in the most revenue here in South Carolina. We have to be there for everyone. So I think South Carolina is the best place to live, work, and raise your family. But I also believe with the right leadership. Pamela Abbott is your next governor. Our best days are yet ahead of us. It's important to put money back into your pockets. Would y'all like to see more money in your pockets? We're going to cut regulations. Because you know why I decided to answer the call from Governor McMaster to be your lieutenant governor? Because I was tired of businesses, large and small, telling me that government regulation was getting to be such a high hurdle that they couldn't jump it anymore. I got so frustrated with big government and bureaucracy that I said yes. Because I can tell you you can't completely run government like a business, but you could take the best of business principles and bring it into government and make it look. Because we have to make sure that justice is felt that it's delivered fairly and it's delivered evenly across the board. And I have heard you all loud and clear for years, and the governor and I have said this. This isn't a political speech. For years, the governor and I have said that we like the way the federal system is done. We believe the governor should appoint and the General Assembly should confirm. But it should be based on criteria. You have to have the resume to do the job, don't you think that we have to make sure our judges are term-limited and we have to make sure that we have a review process. Because we've all turned on the TV and we've seen what can happen when judges have a revolving door of career criminals that keep getting out on the street. It's always us innocent people and our children who end up getting hurt. And as your next governor, I'll make sure that doesn't happen here in South Carolina. And you know, over the last few weeks, I think it has just become blatantly obvious that we need a leader that is going to stand up for our conservative principles. You know, I was I was asked to be a commencement speaker at South Carolina State, uh, unbeknownst to me months after that got pulled away because I was pro-life, because I was pro-Trump, because I was pro-law enforcement, I was anti-DEI, and I was, you know, pro-ICE. What is the matter with that? And how did that differ when I got asked to be their commencement speaker in December? It didn't. But you know what that told us all? That even here in South Carolina, where Republicans run deep, we still can have our voice squashed on a college campus. And what I said then is what I mean today. When I am your next governor, any institution, any institution that receives a dime of yours and mine, our taxpayer money, that tries to cancel conservative speech, we will take away whatever state funding we get them. We can do that. Indoctrination on our college campuses have to stop. I'm a mom, I have a son, well, we have a son that has a sophomore. And you know, I can remember when Charlie Kirk was politically assassinated. I bet you can all remember where you were. And I'm going to tell you, uh, our son Jackson called me, and I was on my way to Florence for an event, and he said, Mom, you know, they they shot Charlie. And I said, I know, buddy, all we can do is pray. And he said, you know, Mom, they shot Charlie. He wasn't even an elected official. If they would shoot him, what would they do to? And he couldn't say you. Because that's what our kids have to deal with. How many times have you heard from a young adult on a college campus who says, I can't express my views. I can't write a paper in a tone or a tense that I agree with for fear that I will fail that class. How many of you have heard that as a parent? So after that, I said, I think we should eliminate tenure on our college campuses. So I definitely don't understand why we still haven't that. Our kids, we need to get rid of indoctrination. We've got to have professors who will teach our kids to critically think, and we're going to bleed the way here in South Carolina without that shit. From what I've heard, we have record numbers. So thank you all. How many of you voted today? Good job. We have some, and I'm seeing lines all across the state. But guys, we have to do better than 13%. That's why I chose to be here. Where I think the red blood of South Carolina starts right here in Ory County. You've got to do a public. You've heard speakers before me, they were saying you've got to get 10 people, 15 people, 20 people. When you're at the grocery store, you've got to remind people it's early voting. You've got to tell them they need to vote on June 9th. When you go to church, when you talk to your family, when you're outside cutting your grass, tell everybody they have got to get out and vote. Because we can and we must do better than 13% showing up for these primaries. My dad used to have a great saying, and my brother's here tonight. My dad used to say, if you don't vote, you can't complain. How many of you agree with that statement? Now it's no, it is no surprise to any of you that I'm a longtime President Trump supporter. I was for the president before I was ever in office because I knew we needed somebody that wasn't a career politician. Somebody who had to sign the front of paychecks. Somebody that knew what big government was doing to us at our homes and in our businesses. And that's why I've been with the president. And everybody that's running against me in this race, they will tell you that they are a Trump conservative. They will tell you that they have been with the president. Let me tell you, all you have to do is go back to January of 2023. The president called all of us and asked us to stand with him at the statehouse. It was a Saturday afternoon. You were there. You guys were all there, I remember. And I said, you know, we were supposed to be out of town. We were supposed to be in Florida for another Republican event, and we canceled. Because to me, there was nothing, and I mean nothing more important than getting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as far away from the Oval Office as we have to get. So everybody, we all got to do our part. And when people ask you, why are you voting? Pamela Ebbett. This is what I wanted you to tell them. Because she's got the resume to do the job. She was a successful business person in the private sector, and she sat at the right hand of the governor now for eight years. A day one, we will miss a beat. We will keep South Carolina pushing forward. And I'll tell you, ask them one other question. Say if you were going to hire somebody to be the CEO of your company, that's the person you want to have to be the CEO of your state. So vote Pamela Abbott on June. Vote Pamela Abbott on June 9th. We were all in this together, and we together will take South Carolina to places none of us have ever dreamed.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Thank you all so much.