2026 Governor Campaign
Nancy Mace's candidacy for Governor of South Carolina in the 2026 election cycle.
Mace's full announcement of her South Carolina gubernatorial campaign, August 2025. (Source: ABC News 4 / WCIV, via YouTube.)
In 2025, Nancy Mace announced a campaign for Governor of South Carolina, entering the contest for the 2026 election. The seat is open due to term limits affecting the sitting governor.
Announcement
Mace launched her gubernatorial bid while serving in Congress. Her campaign has emphasized her record and her Charleston-area base.
Primary field and polling
South Carolina held its Republican gubernatorial primary on June 9, 2026. The primary field included multiple candidates. Internal campaign polling in March 2026 placed Mace as the early front-runner with approximately 24 percent support. Her standing declined through April and May.
On May 29, 2026, former President Donald Trump endorsed Pamela Evette, a rival candidate in the Republican primary, rather than Mace. By late May 2026, polling showed Mace at approximately 12 to 15 percent.
Trump endorsement of rival
Trump's May 29, 2026 endorsement of Pamela Evette was a significant development in the primary. Mace had been a Trump supporter in Congress; the endorsement of a competitor was widely noted in political coverage of the race.
Status
Mace finished fifth in the June 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary. Outside coverage treated the result as a collapse from her earlier polling position, with several outlets tying the loss to Trump's endorsement of Pamela Evette, Mace's anti-transgender national brand, the Epstein-files dispute with Trump-world, and unresolved ethics/reimbursement scrutiny.
On June 25, 2026, QnotesCarolinas published a Carolinas LGBTQ press profile that connected the primary loss to Mace's anti-transgender campaign, the McBride bathroom fight, the House Ethics/OCC reimbursement referral, the Rom Reddy remark, and criticism from former staffers and Republicans. The article's headline and labels are Qnotes' own framing; the underlying events should continue to be sourced through their individual Maceopedia entries.
The same day, The Palmetto Voice published a Substack column and Facebook post arguing that Mace's attack on a foreign-born federal judge after the primary fit the same lane as her natural-born-only constitutional amendment and her criticism of Rom Reddy. The outlet also tied the episode to Trump's endorsement of Pamela Evette and Mace's Epstein-files conflict with Trump-world. Its "defeated and spiraling" phrasing is commentary from The Palmetto Voice, not a Maceopedia finding.
See also
On the Record
'Advice, tips, hacks?': Mace's 'week 4' carnivore post is the newest chapter in two years of public posts about her weight, her hair, and PTSD
On July 30, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace, a sitting member of Congress and announced candidate for South Carolina governor, asked her X followers for 'advice, tips, hacks' on the carnivore diet, 'heading into week 4.' The post drew more than 200 replies, many asking why a member of Congress was crowdsourcing meal-plan tips. It was not the first time. Since November 2024, Mace has posted repeatedly and publicly about her body: a roughly 30-pound weight loss she attributes to PTSD, a 110-pound frame, 'about half my hair' lost to what she called PTSD-driven stress, and a viral post about eating beans after an election loss. This dispatch collects those public posts, in her own words, with screenshots of each.
'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.
'It hasn't happened yet, has it?': Mace, smiling, calls out Trump's broken 50 percent electricity promise on camera
Stopped outside the Capitol by a MeidasTouch reporter and asked what her constituents are saying about affordability, Rep. Nancy Mace rattled off rising groceries, electricity, mortgages and rent, then finished the reporter's sentence about President Trump's pledge to cut power bills: 'By 50 percent. It hasn't happened yet, has it?' She smiled and turned away. The clip, posted July 22, 2026 and shared across X by @Acyn, landed two days after Trump's own self-imposed deadline to halve electricity prices passed with residential rates up about 18 percent instead.
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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
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.
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.'
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.
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.
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.
Palmetto Voice ties Mace's foreign-born judge attack to the naturalized-citizens lane
The Palmetto Voice argued that Mace's attack on a foreign-born federal judge after her fifth-place governor primary finish fits a broader pattern that includes her natural-born-only constitutional amendment, criticism of Rom Reddy, and her Trump/Epstein conflict. The outlet's 'defeated and spiraling' frame is commentary, not a Maceopedia finding.
Trump endorses both SC runoff candidates: 'These were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff'
On June 19, 2026, four days before the June 23 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial runoff, President Trump posted on Truth Social that rather than choose between the two candidates still standing, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson, he would endorse both. He wrote that 'these were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff, and they did.' Neither is Nancy Mace, who finished fifth (about 12.1 percent) in the June 9 primary and has said her vote to release the Epstein files cost her Trump's support. The Washington Post had reported on June 16 that Trump was weighing exactly this dual endorsement. Post & Courier reporter Caitlin Byrd surfaced the post.
Mace vows to be 'more of a menace than ever' after the primary loss
Days after her fifth-place finish in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Nancy Mace struck a defiant tone, signaling she would stay politically active and saying she intends to be 'more of a menace than ever' as her House term winds down.
‘Welcome back, Nancy Mace’: after a fifth-place primary loss, a viral Waffle House meme sends the self-described former waitress back to the marquee
After Rep. Nancy Mace finished fifth in the June 2026 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, a meme spread online showing a Waffle House marquee reading ‘WELCOME BACK NANCY MACE!’ The joke lands on Mace's own oft-repeated biography, ‘high school dropout turned Waffle House waitress’, which she has invoked for years, from celebrating her 2020 congressional win at the Waffle House where she once worked to donning a paper Waffle House cap during her 2026 governor bid. The sign is a digital meme, not a real marquee.
‘You tanked yourself’: in a viral Facebook reel captioned ‘Called it,’ Michelle Shara narrates Mace's fall from ‘leading the race’ to ‘bringing up the rear’
A Facebook reel by Michelle Shara, viewed more than 358,000 times, pairs footage of Nancy Mace addressing a Greenville County Republican Party meeting with Shara's own deadpan voiceover. Over the clip, Shara needles Mace about collapsing from an early front-runner to a fifth-place finish in the June 9, 2026 South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary: ‘last time we saw each other, you were leading the race. How have you managed to tank your campaign so badly that you were just bringing up the rear?’ The one-word caption, ‘Called it,’ frames it as a prediction come true. The harsh lines are Shara's commentary, not Mace's words.
After Mace finishes fifth in the governor's primary, a circulating post-election essay calls her collapse 'years in the making', Mace blames her Epstein-files vote
A post-election essay by writer Mike Broemmel, circulating on Facebook, frames Nancy Mace's fifth-place finish in the June 9, 2026 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary as the cumulative result of years of staff turnover, feuds and controversy, 'the cumulative effect of chaos.' Mace finished last among the major candidates with about 11 percent and did not advance to the June 23 runoff between Pamela Evette and Alan Wilson. Mace has denied the kinds of former-staff accounts the essay recycles and attributes her defeat to her vote to release the Epstein files.
"Getting my ass kicked": Mace's post-loss X tear, from beans to vowing "revenge" on Trump
After finishing fifth (~12.1%) in the June 9, 2026 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Mace posted a days-long run of defiant messages on X that outlets including Townhall, The Blaze and HuffPost described as a 'crash out.' She wrote she was 'getting my ass kicked,' posted a bowl of beans, vowed to be 'more of a menace than ever,' and said that the answer to whether she would get 'revenge on Trump for ending your political career' was 'yes.'
'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.
National Review post-mortem: 'How Nancy Mace Self-Immolated'
National Review, a conservative flagship, ran a scathing post-mortem on Nancy Mace's fifth-place primary finish, arguing the collapse was self-inflicted by a politician who 'would say and do just about anything for attention.' The critique is notable for coming from her own ideological side.
The Washington Post traces Nancy Mace's 'rough downfall' to her fifth-place primary loss, and former allies, including Kevin McCarthy, go on the record: 'I just watched her change'
In a June 10, 2026 post-mortem, The Washington Post's Natalie Allison reports that Nancy Mace's fifth-place finish in the June 9 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, a loss in which she failed to carry even her own home county and district, capped what the paper calls a 'rough downfall.' Drawing on more than a dozen former aides, colleagues and supporters, several speaking on the record, the piece quotes former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ('the only thing I hope is she gets the help she needs') and former Mace staff describing burned bridges and chaos. Mace did not return the Post's requests for comment, has previously denied former-staff criticism, and attributes her defeat to her vote to release the Epstein files. Allegations involving named parties remain contested and unadjudicated; those parties deny them.
'Buried the hatchet': after finishing fifth, Mace concedes the governor's race and endorses Alan Wilson, the rival she spent months branding a 'p*dophile protector'
On the night of June 9, 2026, after finishing fifth in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary with about 11.4% of the vote, Nancy Mace conceded and endorsed the man who advanced to the June 23 runoff, Attorney General Alan Wilson. 'I want a law-and-order governor, and that law-and-order governor is going to be Alan Wilson,' she told supporters, saying that 'in the last couple of weeks, Alan Wilson and I have buried the hatchet.' The endorsement reversed a year of attacks: as recently as November 3, 2025 she had called Wilson a 'p*dophile protector' on X. Wilson has rejected those attacks, his office said Mace 'drastically mischaracterized' prosecution data, and nothing in the exchange is a finding about either man's conduct.
On CNN's election-night board, anchors can't find Mace, John King places her 'at the bottom of the pack' as she finishes last in the GOP governor's primary
During CNN's June 9, 2026 coverage of the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, anchor Kaitlan Collins and data analyst John King could not initially locate Nancy Mace among the leading candidates on the results board. King scrolled to the bottom of the field to find her, calling Mace 'at the bottom of the pack.' Pamela Evette and Alan Wilson advanced to a June 23 runoff; Mace finished near the bottom of the major Republican field.
'Ding dong the witch is gone': Nikki Haley's son toasts Mace's defeat, four years after his mother's ads helped save her seat
Minutes after Nancy Mace conceded her fifth-place finish in the June 9, 2026 South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Nalin Haley, the son of former governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, quote-tweeted her concession with 'DING DONG THE WITCH IS GONE!,' then added 'Free at last, free at last.' The jab capped a four-year arc: in 2022 Nikki Haley cut TV ads calling Mace 'tough as nails' and 'a fighter' and helped her beat a Trump-backed primary challenger; in January 2024 Mace repaid her by endorsing Donald Trump over Haley, in Haley's home state, the day before the New Hampshire primary. The Haley camp had spent election day boosting Mace's rivals.
On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees'
On June 9, 2026, the day South Carolina Republicans voted in their gubernatorial primary, Rep. Nancy Mace spent the morning posting about something that had happened the night before outside a rival's campaign stop in Greer. Across three accounts, before 9:15 a.m., she called it a 'physical assault' by 'one of Pamela Evette's employees,' a 'violent' act, and grounds for Evette to 'drop out of the race.' The Greer Police Department incident report describes the same event more narrowly: a man 'ran up to' a protester 'who was holding a megaphone and ripped the megaphone out of his hands,' then handed it to the officers already standing there. The charge was misdemeanor assault and battery in the third degree, citation issued on scene. Evette's campaign said the man, Blake Kirsch, was an unpaid volunteer on its finance committee, not a staffer, and condemned the conduct. Local stations led with 'volunteer' and 'megaphone snatched.' Mace finished last in the primary that day.
'My time is up at the end of this year': Mace confirms she's leaving Congress
In her concession after the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Nancy Mace confirmed she will not seek re-election to the U.S. House: 'my time is up at the end of this year.' Her House term ends in January 2027. She has described the exit as keeping a three-term pledge she says she made in 2020, a characterization examined below.
Under a gag order barring 'any comment about any aspect of this case,' Mace uses her televised concession speech to talk about 'predators that got away in my case'
On the night of June 9, 2026, after conceding the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Nancy Mace told her Charleston election-night crowd, and a live television audience, that she had talked to Attorney General Alan Wilson 'about my case' and would help his administration ensure that 'predators that got away in my case … we finally put criminals behind bars.' Mace is a third-party defendant in Berg v. Bryant, where a November 26, 2025 gag order bars every party from 'making or publishing any comment about any aspect of this case' or about any party or person connected to it, and a January 12, 2026 civil-contempt motion over her earlier public statements remains pending. Both orders are reproduced in full below. Mace contends the gag order is unconstitutional; all underlying allegations are unproven and contested, and no court has ruled on the June 9 remarks.
Primary day: South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary
The South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary is held June 9, 2026, with Mace polling at roughly 12-15 percent after Trump endorsed rival Pamela Evette on May 29.
After Trump endorses Pam Evette over her for governor, Mace floods X for days, a Farron Balanced commentary dubs the response a 'crash out'
On May 29, 2026, President Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette over Nancy Mace in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary. In the days that followed, Mace posted repeatedly on X defending her congressional record and attacking Evette. In a June 3, 2026 commentary video, progressive host Farron Cousins (Farron Balanced) characterized the response as a multi-day 'crash out' and read a post he attributed to GOP consultant Justin Evans calling it someone losing 'touch with reality in real time.' The 'crash out' and mental-health framing in the video are the commentator's opinion; Maceopedia does not adopt them. Mace attributes her troubles to her vote to release the Epstein files.
Mace posts 'PAM is a SCAM' at gubernatorial opponent Lt. Gov. Pam Evette after debate withdrawal
On May 31, 2026, Mace posted on X mocking her Republican gubernatorial primary opponent Lt. Gov. Pam Evette as a 'scam' after Evette withdrew from a scheduled debate.
Mace continues House duties amid governor run
The congresswoman continued her work in the U.S. House while campaigning for governor, now in her third term representing South Carolina's 1st district.
Polling in the SC governor's race: spring 2026
Mace led the Republican gubernatorial field in early polling but her support began softening through April and May 2026.
Campaign-trail activity picks up in early spring
Campaign activity for the 2026 governor's race increased as spring began, with Mace leading early internal polling at roughly 24 percent.
Mace attacks AG Alan Wilson: 'If you're a pedophile, you definitely want Alan Wilson to prosecute your case'
On January 15, 2026, Mace attacked her chief governor's-race rival, AG Alan Wilson, with a 'pedophile paradise' line after a child sex offender was arrested and released the same day; Wilson's office said Mace had 'drastically mischaracterized' the data she cited.
While the gag order holds, Mace proposes Aggravated Voyeurism Act and ties it to her 'personal experiences' as a victim
On January 3, 2026, with the Berg v. Bryant gag order in effect, Rep. Nancy Mace announced the Aggravated Voyeurism Act at the South Carolina statehouse and publicly tied it to her 'personal experiences' as a self-described victim of voyeurism. The announcement was not cited in the contempt motion filed January 12, 2026; it is presented here as a public statement made during the order's effective period. Mace disputes the validity and scope of the gag order.
2025 in review: from Congress to a governor's bid
A look back at 2025, the year Nancy Mace's focus turned toward the South Carolina governorship while serving her third term in the U.S. House.
'How many times are you going to call your daddy, Alan?', Mace's Nov. 3 barrage at AG Alan Wilson and his father, Rep. Joe Wilson
On November 3, 2025, Mace fired a string of X posts at her chief Republican gubernatorial rival, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, mocking him as 'not man enough' and suffering from 'Low T,' accusing him of running to 'your daddy' (his father, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson) to 'go after me,' and calling Alan Wilson, in her words, a 'p*dophile protector.' Wilson has accused Mace of 'ranting and raving' and his office has said she mischaracterized prosecution data; the two later reconciled, and after Mace finished fifth in the June 2026 primary she endorsed Wilson.
Mace posts 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve' during governor run
While campaigning for South Carolina governor, Mace posted the anti-same-sex-marriage slogan 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve', three years after voting for the Respect for Marriage Act.
Mace at Myrtle Beach town hall: 'I'm a victim of the justice system like you all are'
At her gubernatorial campaign kickoff town hall on August 7, 2025, Mace cast herself alongside constituents as a victim of the justice system and pledged to bring 'law and order' to South Carolina.
Mace launches governor campaign declaring 'I am Trump in high heels' and vowing to 'burn it down to the ground'
At a Myrtle Beach town hall on August 6, 2025, Mace officially launched her South Carolina gubernatorial campaign by vowing to burn down what is broken in the state and calling herself 'Trump in high heels.'
Mace enters SC governor's race: 'South Carolina doesn't need another empty suit'
On August 4, 2025, Mace officially announced her campaign for South Carolina governor, framing her candidacy as a contrast to what she called 'empty suits.'
Mace on potential governor rival: 'I will take him out'
On January 28, 2025, before formally announcing her own gubernatorial run, Mace vowed to personally ensure an unspecified potential opponent never became South Carolina's governor.
Mace campaign ad claims Cunningham 'voted for $5 million in taxpayer funds' for campaigns, rated Half True
A 2020 Mace attack ad claiming Joe Cunningham voted for $5 million in taxpayer funds for politicians' campaigns was rated Half True by PolitiFact, which found the funds came from fines rather than taxes and that the personal-expense rules did not apply to Cunningham.