An Independent Public RecordFriday, July 31, 2026

MACEOPEDIA

The Public Record

Tag

senate

26 entries across the record carry this tag. Browse all dispatches, or jump to a group below.

Dispatches

  • July 28, 2026 · Dispatch

    'He believed that showing up mattered': Mace issues a press release as every other SC House Republican attends Graham's funeral

    On July 28, 2026, Sen. Lindsey Graham's casket lay in the US Capitol Rotunda and then was carried to Washington National Cathedral for his funeral. Every other South Carolina House Republican was there. Rep. Sheri Biggs and Rep. Joe Wilson presented wreaths at his casket. Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman accompanied the South Carolina delegation. Rep. Nancy Mace, who spent two weeks publicly weighing a run for Graham's Senate seat and publicly clashing with him during his lifetime, did not attend. Her office issued a press release statement instead. Filing for the special election primary closed at noon the same day.

  • July 21, 2026 · Dispatch

    One day after quitting the race, Nancy Mace endorses Ralph Norman and snubs Trump's pick for Graham's Senate seat

    One day after ruling out her own Senate bid, Rep. Nancy Mace endorsed Rep. Ralph Norman for the South Carolina special election on July 21, 2026, breaking publicly with President Trump, who had endorsed Lindsey Graham's sister Darline Graham Nordone on July 17. Norman accepted the endorsement while pledging to 'stand with President Trump,' the same president whose candidate he and Mace are now both running against. Filing opens today and closes July 28, with the primary set for August 11.

  • July 20, 2026 · Dispatch

    "South Carolina, I'm in": Russell Fry becomes the fourth Republican to enter the race for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat

    Rep. Russell Fry (SC-7) announced a bid for the U.S. Senate on X at 8:01 a.m. ET on July 20, 2026, becoming the fourth declared Republican in the special election for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's seat, joining Mark Lynch, Duke Buckner, and Rep. Ralph Norman. Fry, 41, unseated five-term incumbent Tom Rice in a 2022 primary after Rice voted to impeach President Trump; Trump has praised Fry as 'outstanding' but has not endorsed him, having already backed interim Sen. Darline Graham Nordone. Candidate filing does not open until noon Tuesday, July 21, so none of the four declared candidates, or anyone else, has filed yet. About an hour after Fry declared, Rep. Nancy Mace posted an objection to dual candidacies, writing that 'if you're running for two offices at once, you've already told us who you are' and that she 'will never hand Hakeem Jeffries that gift.' She named no one, but on the facts as they stand only Fry fits: he won his SC-7 primary on June 9 and is already the Republican nominee for that seat, so he would appear on the November ballot for both offices, while Norman did not file for House reelection after running for governor. Mace has still not announced a decision of her own.

  • July 20, 2026 · Dispatch

    "I'm not chasing another title, I'm chasing justice": Nancy Mace rules out the Senate race, and with it, public office

    On July 20, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace announced in a 64-second video on X that she will not enter the special election for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's Senate seat. 'I want to be straight with you. I'm not running for the US Senate, not because I'm backing down from a fight, but because the one I'm already in matters right now.' The announcement came three days after President Trump endorsed Graham's sister, interim Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, for the full term. Combined with her June 10 decision not to seek re-election to the House, Mace is now set to leave public office when her term ends in January 2027. This dispatch reproduces the video statement in full, verbatim, alongside the separate written statement she posted with it.

  • July 20, 2026 · Dispatch

    "If you're running for two offices at once, you've already told us who you are": Nancy Mace objects to sitting House members seeking the Senate, without naming Russell Fry

    Fifty-nine minutes after Rep. Russell Fry announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate on July 20, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace posted a standalone statement on X, without naming Fry: 'If you're running for two offices at once, you've already told us who you are. That's not about politics anymore - that's about power.' She grounded the objection in House math, warning that a sitting Republican House member who wins the Senate seat in November vacates his seat until next May, narrowing an already thin majority, and writing 'I will never hand Hakeem Jeffries that gift.' Mace is not on the November 2026 ballot herself: she lost the June 9 Republican gubernatorial primary, did not seek reelection to her House seat, and has said her House term ends in January 2027.

  • July 20, 2026 · Dispatch

    "I would be an idiot not to at least look at it": filing for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat opens Tuesday, and Nancy Mace has seven days

    Candidate filing for the special election to fill the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's seat opens Tuesday, July 21, 2026 and closes one week later, July 28. Rep. Ralph Norman formally entered the race July 18, defying President Trump's endorsement of interim Sen. Darline Graham Nordone. Businessman Mark Lynch has also declared. Rep. Nancy Mace has not filed, has not announced, and has not closed the door, telling Fox News on July 12, 'I would be an idiot not to at least look at it.' This dispatch catalogs the filing calendar, the interim appointment, Nordone's July 18 tribute letter to her brother, Trump's 'RUN, DARLINE, RUN!' endorsement, the Emerson College poll showing Mace at 10 percent, and her own July 12 statements verbatim.

  • July 19, 2026 · Dispatch

    "Which version of Nancy Mace will we get?": a nonbinary creator turns Mace's Senate flirtation into a software-update bit

    On July 19, 2026, the YouTube and TikTok creator who posts as @defenestrans published an 85-second Short arguing that Nancy Mace's politics track her audience rather than her convictions, staged as a running joke about software updates. 'Nancy Mace has successfully upgraded to MAGA 5.0,' the host says, before running through 'Factory settings Nancy, District 1 Nancy, Governor's race Nancy, Senate DLC Nancy' and closing: 'I think she just has auto update on, and somehow every new version has more bugs than the last.' Two factual claims in the clip check out: Mace finished fifth in the June 9 Republican gubernatorial primary with 12.1 percent, and she has said on the record she will look at Lindsey Graham's Senate seat. The characterizations are the creator's own; Mace has not responded to the video.

  • July 17, 2026 · Dispatch

    Trump endorses Lindsey Graham's sister for a full Senate term, and puts Nancy Mace's decision in a harder box

    President Trump endorsed Sen. Darline Graham Nordone for a full six-year term on July 17, 2026, the same day Axios reported that Rep. Nancy Mace is still considering a Senate bid despite the endorsement. The move closes the appointment lane Mace had been eyeing and forces a choice: run against Trump's chosen candidate in a primary where she trails at 10 percent, or stand down. This dispatch catalogs the full timeline, from Mace's 'I would be an idiot not to at least look at it' media tour on July 12, to her team's viability polling, to the Emerson poll showing her tied for third at 10 percent, to Trump's endorsement of Graham's sister.

  • July 16, 2026 · Dispatch

    First poll after Graham's death puts Nancy Mace at 10 percent, tied for third, as pollster says 'no candidate begins as a clear favorite'

    The first poll taken after Sen. Lindsey Graham's death, an Emerson College Polling survey for Nexstar Media fielded July 14 to 15, found no clear front-runner in the Republican scramble for his South Carolina Senate seat. Rep. Nancy Mace drew 10 percent, tied for third with Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and behind Rep. Ralph Norman (16 percent) and businessman Mark Lynch (13 percent). No candidate reached 20 percent, and 'undecided' led the entire field at 18 percent.

  • July 16, 2026 · Dispatch

    So he can go fly a kite

    Rep. William Timmons called his South Carolina colleagues 'thirsty' for eyeing Sen. Lindsey Graham's seat within 24 hours of his death and said he cannot support Nancy Mace or Ralph Norman. Mace's response, captured by Fox Carolina: 'So he can go fly a kite.'

  • July 13, 2026 · Dispatch

    Prediction Markets Put Nancy Mace Near the Floor in the Graham-Seat Scramble

    Across Kalshi, Polymarket, Manifold, and PredictIt snapshots checked July 13, Nancy Mace was priced as a long-shot in the South Carolina Senate special-election scramble, ranging from tiny fractions of a percent on Polymarket to 3 cents on Kalshi and roughly 1.4 percent on Manifold. PredictIt showed 10 cents, but its stale order book made that a weak signal rather than a clean consensus.

  • July 12, 2026 · Dispatch

    Mace honors Lindsey Graham after months of public clashes: 'We did not always agree'

    After Sen. Lindsey Graham died at 71 from what his office described as a brief and sudden illness, Nancy Mace posted a respectful Instagram tribute calling him a South Carolina giant and acknowledging, 'We did not always agree.' The post landed against a recent public record of friction: during her 2026 governor campaign, Mace demanded that President Trump remove Graham from the Situation Room over Iran, attacked him as sending 'someone else's kids to war,' and months earlier fired back after Graham backed Tim Scott's rebuke of her Charleston airport conduct. The longer arc stretches back to 2014, when Mace challenged Graham in the Republican U.S. Senate primary and finished fifth.

  • July 12, 2026 · Dispatch

    Townhall says Mace is 'already talking' about taking over Graham's Senate seat

    Within hours of Sen. Lindsey Graham's death, Nancy Mace was already publicly and privately linked to the scramble for his Senate seat. Axios reported she was 'strongly considering' a run. Fox aired her saying she would 'be an idiot' not to look at the opportunity. Then Mace posted a Godfather clip with the line, 'Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in...' Townhall, writing from conservative media, framed the speed more harshly: 'Just hours after' Graham's passing, 'vultures' in South Carolina politics were already scheming for the empty seat.

  • July 12, 2026 · Dispatch

    'I would be an idiot not to': how Nancy Mace's answer on Lindsey Graham's Senate seat changed across one Sunday

    Sen. Lindsey Graham died late Saturday night, July 11, 2026. By Sunday, Rep. Nancy Mace was on CBS, Fox, CNN and her own X account, and her answer on whether she would run for his Senate seat kept moving. She led with grief ('we're stunned'), posted a Godfather meme at 9:43 AM ('they pull me back in'), told Fox 'I'm never going to shut the door' and 'I would be an idiot not to at least look at it,' told CBS 'I would be remiss if I didn't at least consider it,' and by that afternoon told CNN 'we can't afford to lose any seats in the House, I'm not pursuing it' before adding 'there will be time to decide.' Every line is verbatim from her July 12 appearances, reproduced here so readers can judge.

  • July 12, 2026 · Dispatch

    A 'Mace for Senate' domain has sat registered since 2023, its owner hidden behind private WHOIS

    A reader sent Maceopedia an ICANN registration-data lookup for maceforsenate.com. The public record shows the domain was created on August 24, 2023, nearly two years before Lindsey Graham's death opened a South Carolina Senate seat that Nancy Mace is now publicly weighing. Whoever registered it has kept their identity private: the registrant name, organization, and phone are all redacted, and the domain serves no website. Maceopedia independently confirmed the record against Verisign's authoritative RDAP database. The record does not establish who owns the domain, and this dispatch makes no claim that it is Mace or her campaign.

  • July 12, 2026 · Dispatch

    Trump allies say they can 'block Rep. Nancy Mace' from Graham seat appointment

    As Nancy Mace's team explored a fast run for the Senate seat left open by Lindsey Graham's death, the sharper signal came from Trump's orbit. Politico reporter Meredith Lee Hill posted that Trump allies said they would be able to 'block Rep. Nancy Mace' from the seat, while Political Wire's excerpt framed it as blocking her from the appointment and privately pointed to her public clashes with Trump. The report landed the same morning Trump said on Meet the Press that he already had 'somebody' in mind for the vacancy, though Gov. Henry McMaster formally controls the interim appointment.

Wiki & people

  • The 2026 South Carolina Senate Special Election

    Sen. Lindsey Graham died on July 11, 2026, opening a U.S. Senate seat that South Carolina will fill in a special election. Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as interim senator; President Trump has endorsed her for the full term. Candidate filing opens July 21 and closes July 28. Four Republicans have declared: Mark Lynch, Duke Buckner, Rep. Ralph Norman, and Rep. Russell Fry. Rep. Nancy Mace has not declared and is not on the November ballot; she ran for governor instead of seeking reelection and lost the June 9 Republican primary. This hub tracks the filing calendar, the declared field, published polling, and Mace's own dated statements as the story develops.

    July 20, 2026 · Wiki

  • Russell Fry

    U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 7th District who unseated an impeachment-vote Republican in 2022 and entered the 2026 special Senate race to succeed the late Lindsey Graham.

    July 20, 2026 · Wiki

Media coverage

  • Seth Meyers: 'I just think we need to ban politicians from posting memes'

    Seth Meyers used his July 14, 2026 'A Closer Look' segment to skewer Rep. Nancy Mace's Godfather III meme, posted the day after Lindsey Graham's death to hint at a Senate run, alongside Trump's Mount Rushmore, Star Wars, and Pope memes, landing on: 'I just think we need to ban politicians from posting memes.'

    July 14, 2026 · Media

  • We want someone 'sane': Trump insiders fume as Nancy Mace floats run for Senate seat

    AlterNet reports that after Sen. Lindsey Graham's death, the Trump White House moved to keep Nancy Mace away from his Senate seat, with one Trump official telling Axios they would 'drop $2 million on her head' if she reached a runoff because 'all we want is a Republican who is sane.' Trump recommended Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, for the interim appointment, while Mace told Axios she was being unfairly singled out since two men had announced within hours of Graham's passing and she had not.

    July 13, 2026 · Media

  • So Apparently Nancy Mace's Fifth Stage of Grief Is Running for Senate

    Jezebel writes that Nancy Mace began floating herself for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat within hours of his death, posting the Godfather Part III 'they pull me back in' line around 9:43 a.m. Sunday and telling Fox News she would 'never going to shut the door.' A source confirmed to Jezebel that Mace is considering the run and plans to poll an exploratory bid this week, potentially using leftover federal campaign cash, one month after her fifth-place governor-primary finish and twelve years after her first run at Graham's seat also ended in fifth place.

    July 13, 2026 · Media

  • Trump Team Reportedly Irate Over Nancy Mace Floating Her Name as a Graham Replacement: 'All We Want is a Republican Who is Sane'

    Mediaite reports that the Trump White House fumed as Nancy Mace touted herself as a candidate for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat hours after his death, posting the Godfather Part III 'they pull me back in' line the morning the news broke. One Trump official told Axios her move was 'in poor taste, even for Mace'; another said they would 'drop $2 million on her head' in a runoff. Trump instead recommended Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as interim senator, with Sen. Tim Scott backing the pick.

    July 13, 2026 · Media

  • "It may have ended my political career": Nancy Mace to Chris Cuomo

    On NewsNation's CUOMO, two days after Lindsey Graham's death opened a U.S. Senate seat, Nancy Mace said Trump's opposition following her Epstein-files break "may have ended my political career," conceded "I got my butt beat in the governor's race," and, in an answer nominally about ICE, argued that endorsements "do matter, especially in South Carolina." Chris Cuomo urged her on air to run in the special election.

    July 13, 2026 · Media

  • Lawler rips Mace over 'grotesque' Graham succession post

    The Hill reports that Rep. Mike Lawler publicly tore into Nancy Mace over the Godfather Part III clip she posted after Lindsey Graham's death, replying on X that 'literally no one is pulling you back in,' calling the post 'grotesque' and 'vile,' and declaring her 'completely unfit to serve.' The piece notes Mace is expected to poll a Senate primary bid this week, with a person familiar with her thinking summing up her mindset to The Hill as 'YOLO.'

    July 13, 2026 · Media

Clips