Mace Goes Pro Se, Moves to Pause State Case While Appealing Federal Ruling
After cycling through 23 attorneys since 2023, Rep. Nancy Mace is now representing herself pro se in the Bryant v. Mace state case. According to court filings, she filed motions last week asking the Charleston County court to stay proceedings while she appeals the federal remand order.
After burning through twenty-three attorneys since late 2023, Rep. Nancy Mace is representing herself again in the defamation case that Patrick Bryant filed against her.
According to court filings reviewed by Maceopedia, Mace filed pro se motions last week in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas asking the state court to stay proceedings in the third-party complaint against her while she pursues a federal appeal.
How she got here
On September 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Bruce H. Hendricks issued a remand order in Civil Action No. 2:26-cv-305-BHH, rejecting Mace's attempt to keep the defamation claims in federal court. Judge Hendricks found her removal bid "untimely by several measures" and ordered the case back to South Carolina state court (Charleston County docket 2025-CP-10-03124).
The remand order left Mace with one narrow path to stay in federal court: an appeal premised on a federal-officer removal theory. Under 28 U.S.C. Section 1447(d), a remand order is ordinarily unreviewable, but a federal-officer removal exception allows the losing party to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
According to court filings, Mace is pursuing that appeal. At the same time, she filed motions in state court asking that the Charleston County proceedings be paused while the federal appeal is pending.
Her third pro se stint
This appears to be at least Mace's third stint representing herself in the Bryant litigation without retained counsel. Her first pro se appearance came in January 2026, when she filed a letter relieving her prior attorneys. A second pro se stretch followed in June and July 2026.
The full roster of her twenty-three attorneys, along with the timeline of each engagement, is tracked at maceopedia.org/wiki/nancy-mace-lawyers.
Sources: Court filings, Charleston County Court of Common Pleas docket 2025-CP-10-03124; Federal remand order, 2:26-cv-305-BHH (Maceopedia, Sept. 4, 2026); Nancy Mace's 23 Attorneys (Maceopedia)
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