'I Kind of Want to Whittle Sticks': Nancy Mace Says She's Done With Elected Office

As first reported by Maayan Schechter of South Carolina Public Radio, outgoing Lowcountry Congresswoman Nancy Mace used a Washington business dinner to close the door on elected office and to describe, in her own words, what she wants next.

"I Kind of Want to Whittle Sticks"

Asked directly by POLITICO's Jonathan Martin whether any non-elected public-life job would appeal to her, Mace answered flatly:

"No."

Then she offered a picture of the life she says she is after:

"I kind of want to whittle sticks for a while."

Martin was moderating the South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce's Washington Night, a yearly gathering of business leaders who meet to hear from the state's federal delegation. Mace, who leaves office in January 2027, told the room she is ready to be "normal Nancy" again.

"Three Terms and Then I Would Be Done"

Mace framed her exit as a promise kept:

"When I ran for the House, I said I would serve three terms and then I would be done. And I fulfilled that promise."

"I loved it though. I loved serving."

For the record: the "three terms" line is Mace's own characterization. She signed the U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge (a promise to vote for a constitutional amendment capping House service), which is not the same as a documented 2020 personal commitment to leave after her own third term. Maceopedia has previously noted that distinction.

Context

Mace was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020, flipping the 1st District seat back to Republican control and becoming the first Republican woman from South Carolina elected to Congress. She had previously served in the state House.

Rather than seek re-election in 2026, she ran for governor and finished out of the running in the June Republican primary. She has since launched the GET MACED podcast and spent recent weeks in commentary mode online.

In the 1st District race to succeed her, Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt will face Democrat Nancy Lacore in November, with Libertarian Bill Reeside also on the ballot.

Sources & Related Coverage

South Carolina Public Radio, "SC Congresswoman Nancy Mace says she's ready for life outside of political office" (Aug. 20, 2026), by Maayan Schechter
Maceopedia: Rare Earth, Wellness, and Defense Tech: Mace's Post-Congress Wish List
Maceopedia: How "Normal" Is "Normal Nancy"?
Maceopedia: "Not That I Had a Filter Before": Mace Plans Companies and Commentary After Congress

Maceopedia: Cataloging the internet record about Nancy Mace.

Rare Earth, Wellness, and Defense Tech: Nancy Mace's Post-Congress Wish List

August 21, 2026 · Dispatch

How 'Normal' Is 'Normal Nancy'?

July 22, 2026 · Dispatch

"How self-loathing are they": Mace asks "how many Jews voted for Mamdani," doubles down when Piers Morgan calls it "an extraordinary charge." Israel's UN ambassador, asked twice, declines to agree.

On the July 22, 2026 episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Rep. Nancy Mace reacted to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's call for the federal government to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu by asking "how many Jews voted for Mamdani," calling Jewish New Yorkers who backed him "self-loathing," and saying she is perplexed by "this guy coming to America eight years ago from Kampala." Mamdani moved to New York in 1999, at age 7; eight years ago matches his 2018 naturalization, not his arrival. When Morgan called her words "an extraordinary charge," Mace repeated them. Later in the same episode Morgan put her quote to Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon twice; Danon declined to agree both times.

September 20, 2026 · Dispatch

Judge Judy on Nancy Mace: It's Ridiculous.

Rep. Nancy Mace told TMZ on September 14 that Lindsay Clancy, a defendant no jury has convicted, deserves a public execution by firearm or electric chair. The next day TMZ put Mace's call to Judith Sheindlin, Judge Judy, on the same sidewalk beat. Sheindlin said there was no question Clancy killed her children and that the only question was whether there was an excuse for it, told the reporter to make up his own mind, and warned of a danger in not retrying the case. Then TMZ asked her about Mace's call for a public execution. Her answer was three words: I think it's ridiculous. This is Maceopedia's record of both TMZ clips, every quote verbatim and attributed.

September 17, 2026 · Dispatch

Nancy Mace: "We Have the Lowest Ratings Ever in the History," and She Predicts a Midterm "Bloodbath"

Caught in a Capitol hallway by CNN's Manu Raju on September 16, 2026, Nancy Mace was asked whether the public agrees the House did a great job before Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home for a seven-week pre-midterm recess. Her answer: 'No, actually not. We have the lowest ratings ever in the history.' She also predicted the 2026 midterms would be 'a bloodbath.'

September 3, 2026 · Dispatch

'She's Going to Walk Free Because of This Pink Mob': Nancy Mace's Lindsay Clancy TMZ Hit Manufactured a Racial Controversy Around Two Claims That Are Provably Wrong, One of Them About the Law

On September 2, 2026, with the Lindsay Clancy jury deadlocked into its fifth day, Rep. Nancy Mace stopped to talk to TMZ in Washington and turned the Massachusetts murder trial into a racial controversy. She told the camera the 'pink mob' of women supporting Clancy would abandon her 'if she were Black,' that 'the left is inherently racist,' and that Clancy is 'going to walk free because of this pink mob.' The two claims driving the segment do not survive the facts. Mace named no case to support the racial charge, and 'walk free' is not what the law provides: Clancy's defense is asking the jury for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, which in Massachusetts means indefinite commitment to a locked psychiatric hospital, not release; a deadlocked jury means a retrial, not freedom; and Clancy has been held in a state psychiatric hospital the entire time. This is Maceopedia's record of the interview, every quote verbatim and attributed.