Trump critic turned ally Nancy Mace announces run for South Carolina governor

Independent

5 days ago

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) – a former critic of President Donald Trump who became one of his most outspoken defenders on Capitol Hill while also becoming one of the most virulent voices against transgender people – announced she would is running to be governor of South Carolina.
Despite having a thin legislative record, Mace has largely built a name for herself for bombastic stunts such as pushing to ban Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, from using the women's restroom and voting to eject Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.
'I don't answer to the establishment,' she said during her speech. 'I don't know those in the back room a single thing. I answer to the people.'
Mace made her announcement at the Citadel, South Carolina's military college, where she became the first woman to graduate. That came after she had initially dropped out of high school following being raped as a teenager, an ordeal she has publicly recounted.
During her announcement, Mace mentioned a series of hardline policies, mostly focusing on immigration and cutting the state's income tax to zero in five years.
'They are all here, and we will work with ICE better than ever to ensure that anyone who is here illegally gets deported immediately, we will work with ICE in every respect,' she said of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
'If we need housing price we have it, if we need to have boots on the ground to help ICE, we will do it everything in our power, and we will not let another sanctuary share it dictate who gets to stay here when they're here illegally.'
Unsurprisingly, Mace also said that she would oppose what she called the 'gender cult,' citing how she called out Clemson University for having 15 gender options.
'I hold the line on women and kids, Insanity and education by vetoing any funding to any college that pushes gender ideology and refuses to define what a woman is,' Mace said. 'If a school erases women, it erases its right to your tax dollars.'
But Mace faces a crowded primary. Fellow Rep. Ralph Norman, who endorsed Nikki Haley during the 2024 preisdential primary, is also running. Another opponent is state attorney general Al Wilson, whom Mace accused on the House floor of ignoring her report of sexual assault, though Wilson said that Mace's report never made it to his office.
Mace first came to Washington after serving in South Carolina's state legislature. In 2014, she staged a primary challenge to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) at the peak of the Tea Party movement. She later worked on the 2016 Trump campaign in the Palmetto State.
In 2020, she beat former Democratic congressman Joe Cunningham in South Carolina's 1st district. Initially, after the January 6 riot, Mace criticized Trump and said she held him responsible for the riot, though she voted against impeaching him.
That led to Trump endorsing her Republican primary opponent Katie Arrington in 2022. In response, Mace posted a video of herself infront of Trump Tower in New York.
Mace initially billed herself as a moderate Republican who was part of a 'Caucus of One,' telling The Independent in 2023 that she was ' pro-baby, pro-gun, pro-pot, pro-gay.' She initially worked on legislation to decriminalize cannabis and voted with Democrats to legalize protections for same-sex and interracial married couples.
But after her primary win, she moved significantly to the right. After initially voting for McCarthy as speaker, when former congressman Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate, Mace joined Gaetz and six other Republicans to eject McCarthy alongside every Democrat present at the time.
Given many of her opponents within the GOP, Mace would likely need to win the support of the president. While Trump has not made an endorsement in the race yet, her announcement ad features Trump praising her.