John Mace McGrath

John Mace McGrath is a South Carolina Republican official who serves as chairman of the Berkeley County Republican Party. A graduate of The Citadel, where he was president of the Citadel Republican Society, and a U.S. Army officer, he owns multiple small businesses and serves as vice chair of the Hanahan Board of Zoning Appeals. He is a nephew of Rep. Nancy Mace.

Family tie and campaign background

McGrath is a nephew of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC-1), and his middle name reflects the family connection. During Mace's 2024 congressional re-election campaign he worked as a junior staffer on communications and field support, alongside campaign aides John Mason Long and Austin McCubbin. He subsequently moved out of Mace's orbit and into county Republican Party leadership in his own right.

Chairman of the Berkeley County Republican Party

In early 2025, McGrath announced his candidacy to lead the Berkeley County Republican Party, and in April 2025 he was elected county chairman in a first-ballot win, according to The Post and Courier. His election was part of a slate of new Lowcountry county-GOP leadership chosen that spring, as reported by Live5News. As chairman he has overseen the county party's organizing and candidate forums; he also serves as vice chair of the Hanahan Board of Zoning Appeals. His campaign for chairman emphasized, in his own words, "disciplined leadership, strategic focus, and a deep commitment to public service."

May 1, 2025: confronted at a Vance steel-plant visit

On May 1, 2025, Vice President JD Vance toured Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, South Carolina, delivering remarks to workers on American manufacturing during the new administration's first 100 days. Mace and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette were among the officials in attendance; McGrath, then 26 and newly elected Berkeley County GOP chairman, was seated next to local elected officials.

Vice President JD Vance's remarks at Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, S.C., May 1, 2025, the event where, according to The Washington Post*, Mace confronted McGrath. The confrontation itself was not captured on camera and, the Post reported, "has not previously been reported." (Source: YouTube.)*

According to reporting by The Washington Post (Natalie Allison, June 10, 2026), Mace confronted McGrath at the event, standing over him and pointing her finger in his face, and upbraided him for accepting an endorsement in his county-chairman race from state Attorney General Alan Wilson, whom Mace had criticized in her February 2025 House floor speech and who would later run against her for governor. The Post quoted Mace telling her nephew:

"You f---ed up taking Alan's endorsement, and you're going to pay for that someday." (Nancy Mace, to McGrath, per The Washington Post)

Quote card: "You f---ed up taking Alan's endorsement, and you're going to pay for that someday." Nancy Mace, to nephew John Mace McGrath, May 1, 2025, as reported by The Washington Post.

The Post attributed the account to two people who witnessed the scene, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, "saying they did not want to attract any additional wrath from Mace." The Post reported that Mace and her campaign did not return its requests for comment. After conceding the 2026 primary the following year, Mace endorsed Wilson in the gubernatorial runoff. The reported exchange is a witness account published by the Post; it has not been independently adjudicated, and Mace has not publicly responded to it.

The 2026 governor's race

Mace ran for Governor of South Carolina in the 2026 cycle and was eliminated in the June 9, 2026 Republican primary, which advanced Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson to a runoff. Despite the family relationship, McGrath, leading the Berkeley County party during that primary, did not endorse or align his county organization behind his aunt's gubernatorial campaign, and was supportive of other candidates in the Republican field. The Berkeley County Republican Party under his chairmanship hosted gubernatorial contenders at party events during the campaign.