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.
SAVANNAH Guthrie has quietly dropped hundreds of thousands on private investigators in a desperate attempt to find her mother months after she was abducted from her home.
The U.S. Sun can report that the Today anchor, 54, has shelled out around $500,000 to keep the search going for Nancy, 84, after losing faith in the official investigation.
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Savannah Guthrie, here on Today, has spent over $500,000 in private investigator services in the search for her abducted motherCredit: GettySources told The U.S. Sun that Savannah has a team tirelessly working on her beloved mother, Nancy’s disappearanceCredit: Instagram/savannahguthrie
Though many have lost hope that Nancy will ever be found, Savannah “has told everyone involved that the search will continue for as long as necessary,” an insider told The U.S. Sun.
“She is not prepared to stop looking for her mother. She feels that depending only on the official investigation is not enough anymore – that’s why she’s investing so heavily in private investigators and outside specialists.”
The source said that the heartbroken daughter has hired an “entire independent team” who are “working leads every day” to help bring her beloved mother home.
This top-notch team includes former agents, security experts, and investigators, the insider claimed.
According to the insider, the veteran journalist became disillusioned with the official investigation.
“She became increasingly disappointed with how communication from authorities changed over time,” they added.
“What once felt urgent started to feel far more routine.”
Savannah’s mother, Nancy, was taken from her home on February 1stCredit: Instagram/savannahguthrieA chilling video showed an armed and masked man at the door to her Arizona home the night she vanishedCredit: Getty
“When Savannah learned there would no longer be direct contact with the sheriff, she took that very personally,” the insider continued.
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“She felt the family was being pushed further away from the center of the investigation.”
Meanwhile, a second insider explained: “The financial cost has become enormous, but Savannah doesn’t care about the money.”
“Right now, every dollar is worth spending if it helps bring her mother home.
“By now, the costs have climbed well into the mid-six figures.
“And remember, Savannah was once willing to pay a ransom, so spending big on the search is nothing new for her.”
“She keeps telling friends the same thing: The family can’t stop searching.
“But she still believes there’s a chance her mother can be found, and that belief is what keeps the private search going every single day.”
Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack was the first to report on Savannah’s ongoing investigator efforts into Nancy‘s disappearance.
More than 100 days have passed since Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her bed in the early morning hours of February 1.
As the Pima County Sheriff’s Office remains tight-lipped, a feud has erupted behind the scenes between local cops and the highest levels of federal law enforcement.
FBI Director Kash Patel went on national television to blast local authorities, claiming they completely botched the opening hours of the investigation.
Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Patel emphasized that while missing persons cases technically fall under local jurisdiction, the first 48 hours are the absolute most critical window to find someone alive.
According to the FBI chief, federal agents were left twiddling their thumbs for four straight days before locals finally let them in.
Once the Bureau secured access, they immediately bypassed local roadblocks to recover chilling Nest security camera footage from Guthrie’s front porch.
Patel took direct credit for the breakthrough, noting the Bureau had to coordinate directly with Google just to get those haunting images out to the public.
The finger-pointing did not stop there. Patel openly slammed Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for bypassing the FBI’s world-class crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.
Instead, local police shipped crucial DNA evidence found inside Nancy’s home to a private laboratory down in Florida.
Timeline of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home on February 1, 2026.
Timeline:
January 31: Nancy is last seen by her family
5:32pm: Nancy travels to her daughter’s home for dinner, about 11 minutes from her own house.
9:48pm: Family members drop off Nancy Guthrie at her home in Tucson. Her garage door closes two minutes later.
February 1: Nancy is reported missing and a search begins
1:47am: Nancy’s doorbell camera disconnects
2:12am: Camera software detects a person moving in range of the camera. There is no video, and Nancy does not have a storage description.
2:28am: Nancy’s pacemaker app disconnects from her phone, which is later found still at her house.
Around 11am: A parishioner at Nancy’s church calls the mom’s children and says she failed to show up for service.
11:56am: Family members arrive at Nancy’s house to check on her.
12:03pm: The family calls 911 to report Nancy missing.
8:55pm: The Pima County Sheriff’s Office gives its first press conference and reveals some clues found at Nancy’s home caused “grave concern.” Sheriff Chris Nanos says helicopters, drones, and infrared cameras are all being utilized in the search.
February 2: Search crews pull back. Nancy’s home is considered a crime scene. Savannah releases a statement thanking supporters for their prayers, which her co-hosts read on Today.
February 3: A trail of blood is pictured outside Nancy’s home, where there were reportedly signs of forced entry. Nanos admits they have no suspects, no leads, and no videos that could lead to Nancy’s recovery. He and the FBI beg for more tips and accounts.
February 4, 8pm: Savannah and her siblings release a heartbreaking video directed at their mother’s abductors asking for proof she is alive and saying they’re willing to work with them to get her back.
February 5: FBI offers $50,000 reward for information on the case.
5pm: First ransom demand deadline for millions in Bitcoin passes. Guthrie family releases demand to speak “directly” to the kidnappers, saying, “We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.”
Blood is confirmed to be Nancy’s.
February 7: Savannah and her siblings share a video stating they received a message from kidnappers and are willing to pay.
February 9, 5pm: Second ransom demand deadline, reportedly with “much more serious” conditions.
Savannah posts a video asking the public to report anything strange to law enforcement.
February 10: The FBI release surveillance footage of the armed masked suspect outside Guthrie’s house on the night she disappeared.
February 11: A man is detained in Rio Rico, about 19 miles south of Tucson. The individual was released after being questioned by authorities.
February 12: Suspect described as 5’9″-5’10” carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack (Walmart exclusive).
February 13: A second man is detained by police after being pulled over by Pima County officers near a Culver’s in Tucson. The man, identified as Luke Daley, was questioned and has since been released.
February 15: DNA is collected from a discarded glove found 2 miles away that matches surveillance.
February 16: Sheriff Nanos clears the Guthrie family and their spouses of any involvement.
February 24: The Guthrie family increased the family’s reward for information to $1million.
March 4: DNA on the glove is traced to a restaurant worker, and the person is cleared of any involvement.
March 16: ABC News reports that more images have been obtained from motion-activated cameras.
March 26: Savannah’s first on-camera interview since her mother’s disappearance airs.
Patel claimed he had hundreds of federal agents and intelligence analysts deployed to Phoenix and Tucson on standby, ready to flood the neighborhood and process the DNA evidence within days.
He expressed frustration that the Bureau was sidelined, arguing their premier lab could have cracked open better leads by now.
Sheriff Nanos is fiercely hitting back against the narrative.
In an official statement, Nanos denied keeping the feds in the dark, insisting that members of the FBI Task Force were actually boots-on-the-ground at the scene alongside local detectives from the very beginning.
Nanos fired back that both his department and Nancy’s own family notified federal authorities immediately.