Rep. Nancy Mace launched her run for South Carolina governor early Monday, joining a crowded Republican primary field to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster (R-S.C.).
Mace made her official announcement at her alma mater, The Citadel, a senior military college, on Monday. The congresswoman was the first woman to graduate from the college in 1999.
“This morning I am making it official. I am running to be your governor of the great state of South Carolina,” Mace said, speaking from the school. “I didn’t come to join the club. They don’t want me and I don’t want them. I came to hold the line.”
“South Carolina is tired of the politicians who smile for the cameras, lie to your face, and then vanish when it’s time to lead,” she said.
On Sunday, Mace posted a video that concludes with a graphic that reads “Nancy Mace For Governor.”
“Do you like our X header?” she asked in a post on the social media site with the same image.
Mace reportedly has an event scheduled at her alma mater, The Citadel, at 7:30 a.m. EDT Monday.
The firebrand South Carolina congresswoman had teased a potential run in recent days. Last Monday, she released a video highlighting the governor’s race and President Trump’s praise for her. The video included the caption “Coming soon.”
According to Fox News, Mace told a crowd at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics over the previous weekend that “not only do you pick presidents, maybe you can pick the next South Carolina governor too while we’re here today, because we’re going to be announcing a run very shortly potentially for that as well.”
Mace joins fellow Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), state Attorney General Alan Wilson (R), Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R) in the primary.
Mace told Fox News that if she launched a gubernatorial bid, it would be a “two-man race” between her and Wilson.
“If I get in, I will fight to the finish, and I will take out South Carolina’s attorney general, because he’s turned a blind eye on women and on children and on the state for a lot of reasons. He might force me to do this,” Mace said.
The congresswoman accused four men of sexual misconduct in a speech on the House floor earlier this year and accused Wilson of not prosecuting the men.
Wilson has denied Mace’s accusations, saying they were not made to him or his office.
A poll released by the South Carolina Policy Council showed Mace narrowly leading Wilson in the primary among Republican identifying voters.
Updated: 8:31 a.m. ET
