Part of: The House Ethics reimbursement investigation (2025-2026) · House Ethics Committee Investigation of Rep. Nancy Mace (OCC Review 25-5681)
Editorial: Don't slash SC ethics fines; kick deadbeats off the ballot
The Post and Courier's own editorial board called out Mace by name for mounting $16,700-plus in state ethics fines as a state legislator for late campaign-finance filings, and criticized the legislature's decision to reduce her tab, framing her as an ethics 'deadbeat' whose career should be at risk.
Editorial Board ·
"Ethics Committee members' lackadaisical response to violations sends a clear message to incumbents and challengers alike: It's not important for candidates to tell voters who's bankrolling their campaigns."
, The Post and Courier Editorial Board, December 20, 2023
The Post and Courier's editorial board, the same publication that covers Mace's congressional district, ran a direct rebuke in December 2023 after South Carolina legislators moved to reduce the $16,700-plus in ethics fines Mace had accumulated as a state representative. The fines stemmed from repeated late campaign-finance filings while she served in the statehouse, before her congressional career.
The board made its position explicit:
"We absolutely do want to discourage candidates who repeatedly violate our campaign laws from running again."
The editorial framed the legislature's decision to reduce Mace's fine tab not as leniency but as a signal of institutional indifference, one that would encourage future violations by demonstrating that consequences were negotiable. Using the word "deadbeats" in the headline to describe candidates who run up ethics fines and face little accountability, the board named Mace as the person the legislation was effectively protecting.
The editorial came three years before the House Ethics Committee opened a separate federal investigation into Mace's congressional-era reimbursement practices, which critics have described as part of a pattern of ethics issues that preceded her time in Washington.
Related coverage
- Post and Courier: Nancy Mace racked up nearly $17K in fines as a state rep. She will only pay a fraction of it.
- SC Daily Gazette: SC's Nancy Mace owes $1,200 in ethics fees after legislators reduce her tab
- SC Daily Gazette: After records showed she still hadn't paid ethics fine, Rep. Mace says she 'cut a check this week'
- Post and Courier: US Rep. Nancy Mace accused of misusing taxpayer funds to cover her DC housing and meals
Read next
March 2, 2026 · DispatchUS Rep. Nancy Mace accused of misusing taxpayer funds to cover her DC housing and meals
Caitlin Byrd reported the Office of Congressional Conduct found 'substantial reason to believe' Mace improperly claimed nearly $9,500 in excess housing reimbursements tied to her $1.6 million Capitol Hill townhouse, also billing over $9,400 for food. Mace refused to cooperate with the OCC probe; her lawyer called the report 'fundamentally flawed.'
December 14, 2023 · DispatchNancy Mace racked up nearly $17K in fines as a state rep. She will only pay a fraction of it.
Nick Reynolds reported that the S.C. House Ethics Committee voted unanimously on December 14, 2023 to reduce Mace's $16,700 in unpaid state campaign-finance fines to just $1,200 -- 7 percent of what she owed -- after she filed an appeal citing financial hardship, COVID-era family health issues, and death threats. Mace earns a $174,000 congressional salary and, with her partner, had purchased a $3.9 million Isle of Palms home. Committee members noted she had ignored repeated outreach for years.
March 2, 2026 · DispatchHouse Ethics to investigate Mace on reimbursement practices
Roll Call's same-day Washington-bureau confirmation that the House Ethics Committee had opened a formal investigation into Mace's reimbursement practices, amplifying the Post and Courier's reporting for a DC-insider audience.