Part of: Epstein files floor speech and Oversight briefing (Sept. Nov. 2025) · The Epstein Files Fight · Epstein & the Files Vote · 2026 Governor Campaign
'I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election': Mace blames her Epstein-files vote for the loss
After her fifth-place finish in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Nancy Mace attributed her defeat to her vote to release the unredacted Epstein files over President Trump's objections, and marked the loss with a baked-beans photo on X, a callback to a viral 2024 meme.
As reported by The Daily Beast (Erkki Forster), Rep. Nancy Mace responded to her fifth-place finish in the June 2026 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary by pointing to her vote to release the unredacted Epstein files, cast against President Trump's wishes, as a reason she lost, and by posting a photo of baked beans on X, a nod to a viral 2024 meme.
In her own framing of the defeat, Mace wrote:
"I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election."
The remark casts her primary loss as the price of the Epstein-files vote rather than a repudiation of her campaign, a throughline with her other post-loss statements. For the campaign context, see the primary-day dispatch and CNN's "bottom of the pack" coverage.
Sources & related coverage. The Daily Beast (June 10, 2026) · catalog entry: In the Media → Daily Beast