Mace

COLUMBIA, S.C. — After a decade of roiling South Carolina and national politics, Rep. Nancy Mace finished a distant fifth in her state’s Republican primary for governor, leaving an uncertain future for one of the nation’s unabashed politicians.

Her campaign mirrored her whipsaw career. Mace courted the support of President Trump after harshly criticizing him over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. She emphasized her fights with other Republicans to release files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

In the final days before Tuesday’s primary, she called for a law to prevent anyone not born in the U.S. from holding political office or serving as a judge. She suggested that Rom Reddy, another candidate for governor, wasn’t qualified because he was a naturalized citizen whose mother was from India and father from Italy.

“I didn’t come out of a slum in India,” Mace said during an appearance in Greenville County this month. “I am born and made here in America.”

By the end of her campaign she was only making sporadic public appearances. She struggled to raise money and had no presence on television. Mace mostly communicated through social media — a place she has used to her advantage since first being elected to the South Carolina House in 2017.

In a lengthy statement posted after her loss, Mace recounted her achievements in the U.S. House, saying she had “taken on the rich and powerful in both parties” and “voted to release the Epstein files and lost some support for that.”

Four congressional Republicans were part of the initial group pushing for a discharge petition forcing the files’ release. Mace and Rep. Thomas Massie lost their races, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned in January.

Mace didn’t give an indication of her next plans in her concession speech Tuesday night. She is backing Alan Wilson in the runoff for governor, even though just last year she accused Wilson of protecting child sex abuse defendants.

“When children needed him to act, Wilson looked the other way,” she said.

Wilson will face Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in the runoff on June 23. Evette received Trump’s endorsement, spurring Mace to lash out on social media.

“Pamela Evette is NOT ENDORSED by DONALD TRUMP,” Mace wrote, incorrectly. “Do not believe her LIES.” Mace posted an AI-generated image of posing with Trump herself.

Mace dropped out of high school and worked as a server at the Waffle House before getting her diploma. She later attended The Citadel and became the first woman to graduate from the state’s military academy. And in recent years, she talked about the importance of defending victims of sexual assault and shared stories of being raped as a teen.

After her political career began in the South Carolina House, Mace got wide praise from Republicans in 2020 for winning back a U.S. House seat around Charleston that had flipped to Democrats for one term.

“For those folks that are out there today that maybe weren’t with us yesterday, I’m asking for a chance — a chance to prove to you that I will be a compassionate leader, a good listener, an independent thinker,” Mace said then.

Collins and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Kinnard reported from Washington. AP writer Bill Barrow contributed from Atlanta.

1 of 2 | Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., failed to advance in the Republican primary for South Carolina governor on Tuesday, falling out of the top two vote-getters to state Attorney General Alan Wilson and President Donald Trump’s choice Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

June 10 (UPI) — Maine Democrat Graham Platner secured his party’s nomination to challenge Sen. Susan Collins in November and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., failed to advance in her gubernatorial bid.

Primaries in Maine, Nevada, South Carolina and North Dakota shed some light on where voters stand heading into November’s midterms. Platner’s victory in Maine, running on a progressive platform seeking to shake up the establishment, came in spite of a series of controversies during his campaign.

Platner received nearly 75% of votes in his primary as of Tuesday. Among his main challengers was Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign when pre-primary polls showed Platner with a commanding lead.

“Over the last nine months I have seen Mainers come together behind a vision to take back our power from corporations and billionaires,” Platner said Tuesday.

Democrats have targeted Collins’ seat as a key to earning a majority in the Senate.

“Over the past year, we have created a path to win a Democratic Senate majority and put a stop to the chaos and damage of the Trump administration by defeating the Republicans who enable his harmful agenda,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, wrote Tuesday. “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.”

Trump’s endorsement in South Carolina’s gubernatorial race advanced to a June 23 runoff. State Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson were the top two vote-getters on Tuesday but neither surpassed the 50% threshold. Trump endorsed Evette over Mace, who has often aligned with Trump throughout her career.

Mace was one of the few Republicans to criticize Trump and his administration over the release of files related to the investigation into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

“I chose to expose the abusers of children. And apparently, I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election,” Mace posted on social media on Tuesday. “I’m at peace with that. Because when a candidate is OK with corruption and cover-ups — something is broken. That’s not a political opinion. That’s a moral emergency.”

The race for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham‘s Senate seat in South Carolina has been set as the incumbent earned more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff election later this month. Graham will be challenged by Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who ran for Congress in 2022.