Latest news with #Nancy Mace
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Fire-breathing Nancy Mace gets ICY reception in campaign for South Carolina's top job
The primary election is ten months away, but many South Carolinians who spoke to the Daily Mail said they are unenthused about Nancy Mace's maverick campaign for governor. 'No way, not for South Carolina,' Rodney, a Charleston resident, told the Daily Mail in the city's bustling downtown on Monday. He made it clear in other terms that he was not a MAGA fan. Another resident, Sherry, told the Daily Mail she is 'not interested in Miss Mace.' 'She's for our current president,' Sherry added, 'That's a no.' Half of the voters the Daily Mail spoke to, most using first names only to protect their identities, were flat out against Mace, if not skeptical of her leadership in Congress. Meanwhile, Annie, a South Carolinian seemingly in her mid-twenties, was more enthusiastic about Mace's announcement. 'It's awesome to have a woman run for governor,' she said. 'Historically, it has only been males in South Carolina, so I'm excited to see what she can do.' Rep. Mace, 47, a third-term congresswoman who represents the coastal areas surrounding Charleston, announced on Monday she's running for governor in 2026. She's forged a fiery reputation for her dramatic confrontations with pro-transgender activists and divulged deeply personal stories about sexual assault and abuse. Congresswoman Nancy Mace announced her bid for South Carolina governor on Monday Charleston resident Annie told the Daily Mail she's excited to see a woman hop in the governor's race The conservative is not shying away from her controversial reputation forged on Capitol Hill as she joins an already-crowded pack to replace outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster. 'I'm not a huge fan of Nancy Mace for our governor,' said Trent, a Republican from Charleston. 'There's a couple of big things that I don't agree with her on.' He didn't elaborate on what, but did relent that he'd vote for Mace 'if there's not a better candidate.' The congresswoman's primary opponents include South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and fellow Rep. Ralph Norman. Though the race is still early, whoever secures an endorsement from President Donald Trump will likely hold a major advantage among the crowded GOP field. Another South Carolinian, Bill, noted that Mace's announcement 'looks like an obvious step up for her ... after a bunch of years in Congress.' Another Republican, David, admitted he didn't know anything about Mace. 'Well, I really don't know much about her, but I'm gonna look at her for sure,' he responded. As a conservative, he'd likely go for whoever the GOP nominee is, he later clarified. Mace has been seen as some as a rising star in the GOP. Above she's pictured delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention last year Rodney Simons, a Charleston resident, told the Daily Mail he thinks the congresswoman would not be a good choice for South Carolina governor Maebelle, an elderly lady who appeared to be in her eighties, was happy to hear of Mace's announcement and shared some excitement about the news because she claimed the two had met. 'I think she's a cool person,' she told the Daily Mail. 'I met her once, and I think she'll be good.' 'She seemed to be a fair person, and someone you can go to and talk to and for the right things.' Early polling shows that the 47-year-old may be one of the top contenders to win the Republican nomination, though it's too close to early seen. A survey from the South Carolina Policy Council published last week found Mace with 16 percent support while state AG Wilson had 15 percent. Wilson, the son of longtime congressman Joe Wilson, announced his bid for office last month. Mace sparked attacks against Wilson for mishandling legal cases and has painted him as someone 'who likes to put pedophiles on trial and give them one day in jail.' Wilson has denied the accusation and has labeled the lawmaker a 'liar.' The poll also showed Rep. Norman received 6 percent support, while Lt. Gov. Evette snagged 8 percent and State Sen. Josh Kimbrell had 3 percent. Still, over half of the respondents, 52 percent, said they were undecided. During Mace's campaign announcement at her alma mater, The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina, she ripped into 'weak leadership' of the past. She pledged to no longer 'turn a blind eye' to 'trannies invading women's spaces, an unaccountable judicial process and failed schools.' Her top priorities are to restore law and order, protect women and children and fix the judicial system. She also had some new proposals: The Republican unveiled a five-year plan to eliminate state income taxes. 'Other states, like Florida, Tennessee, Texas, have zero state income tax,' she said. Mace also announced initiatives to expand school choice, vocational education and floated policies that could help the state's authorities better cooperate with ICE to accelerate deportations.
Telegraph
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Nancy Mace: The Maga darling who turned from LGBT ally to proud ‘transphobe'
As far as political makeovers go, few have been as drastic as that of Representative Nancy Mace. A former transgender rights advocate, the Republican representative once called out colleagues for racism and feuded with Donald Trump after blaming him for the Jan 6 Capitol riot. But over the past year, Ms Mace has rebranded herself as an anti-woke crusader. She spearheaded a bathroom ban against the first transgender member of Congress, repeatedly referred to transgender people using the slur 'trannies', and is expected to launch a bid on Monday to become the next South Carolina governor, on a platform to stop the state from going 'woke'. A flurry of sharp-tongued Fox News appearances, combined with regular clips of her more controversial statements going viral, have transformed Ms Mace into one of the most recognisable congresswomen of Mr Trump's second term, sparking outrage and admiration in equal measure across the aisle. Yet one former adviser warned that her metamorphosis may be exposed under the pressures of a gubernatorial campaign. Brendan Donehue, a South Carolina-based political strategist who fired Ms Mace as a client, said: 'As soon as South Carolina voters realise that her record does not match her rhetoric, she's going to be plummeting in the polls.' Ms Mace was approached for comment. The South Carolina representative made headlines in November last year when she introduced a bill to ban transgender people from using women's bathrooms in Congress. Asked by reporters if the bill was designed to target Sarah McBride, the Delaware representative who became the first transgender person elected to Congress, Ms Mace did not mince her words: 'Yes…and then some.' In the days after filing the bill, she capitalised on the attention by posting about bathrooms more than 300 times on X, including a clip in which she held up a sign saying 'biological' outside a women's lavatory on Capitol Hill. I never thought we would need a sign for this, but women's restrooms are for BIOLOGICAL women. Not men. — Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 19, 2024 The bill sparked outrage among Democrats, who accused her of bullying Ms McBride, encouraged former staff members to denounce her, and triggered protests, with Ms Mace later pictured wearing a sling after she claimed to have been assaulted by a trans rights campaigner. Unabashed, Ms Mace doubled down on her stance, repeatedly referring to transgender people as 'trannies' – including at a congressional hearing – in an unapologetic effort to stoke controversy, and on Thursday reshared an image of herself superimposed with the caption: 'Most prominent transphobe in American politics.' 'We approve of this message,' she wrote. 'Your mental illness is not our reality.' We approve of this message. Your mental illness is not our reality. — Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) July 31, 2025 The bathroom campaign has positioned her at the centre of the Trump administration's wholesale crackdown on so-called 'gender ideology extremism', helping to cultivate an image of her as a straight-talking new darling of the Right. Yet it marks a sharp departure from her past position, having told the Washington Examiner in 2021: 'I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality,' adding: 'No one should be discriminated against.' It is not the only issue on which Ms Mace has changed her views. Having briefly served in the state House, in 2020 she became the first Republican woman elected to represent South Carolina in Congress, flipping the 1st District after a single term with a Democratic representative. As a single mother who was unafraid to speak her mind, she seemed exactly like the sort of tough-talking Republican who could lead the GOP beyond Mr Trump. Indeed, she urged lawmakers to 'hold the president accountable' for the Jan 6 Capitol riot and said Mr Trump's legacy had been 'wiped out'. Her harsh words drew the ire of the president, who called Ms Mace 'an absolutely terrible candidate' who has been 'disloyal' to the Republican Party and endorsed her primary challenger when she ran for re-election in 2022. But as the party embraced its former leader ahead of the 2024 election, so too did Ms Mace, who endorsed him in January last year, writing on X that it had been a 'complete s— show since he left the White House'. Ms Mace also earned admiration after speaking up about the sexual abuse she had been subjected to, experiences which she says inform her view on women's only spaces. After being raped as a teenager, Ms Mace dropped out of high school and worked at Waffle House while studying for her diploma. She was the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, a prestigious military academy. In February, in a harrowing hour-long speech on the House floor, she accused her ex-fiance, Patrick Bryant, and his business associates of raping her and other incapacitated women. She also claimed to have found non-consensual pictures and videos of herself and other women naked and engaged in sex acts. The blame for failing to imprison Mr Bryant, she said, lay with South Carolina's top prosecutor, Alan Wilson, who allegedly slow-walked any investigation into the men after she presented him with evidence. Mr Bryant denied the allegations in a comment to AP, while Mr Wilson's office labelled Ms Mace's claims 'categorically false' and said it had not received 'any reports or requests for assistance' regarding the case. In a strange twist, Mr Wilson will be Ms Mace's primary opponent if she enters the gubernatorial race as expected. A recent poll showed Ms Mace leading the pack with 16 per cent of support among Republican voters if she were to enter the race. That puts her one point ahead of Mr Wilson, with Lieutenant governor Pamela Evette, House representative Ralph Norman and State Senator Josh Krimbell sweeping up the remaining votes. Without having launched her campaign, Ms Mace has already declared it a 'two-man race' and engaged in some pre-emptive bashing of her key rival. 'This is a two-man race, if I get in, between me and Alan Wilson, the South Carolina attorney general, who likes to put paedophiles on trial and give them one day in jail serve,' she said. Ms Mace may be the most recognisable face in the race, but Mr Donehue said that the contest remains wide open with more than a year to go until election day. That length of time, he predicted, will give voters a chance to decide which of Ms Mace's personas they believe.
