Republican firebrand Nancy Mace has launched a bid to become South Carolina’s next governor on a platform reminiscent of President Donald Trump’s.
And she’s not shying away from her reputation in Congress as a pain-in-the-side rabble rouser while pushing pro-Trump policies.
During her four and a half years in office, Mace, 47, established herself from the pack of Republican women due to her many antics in Congress.
Initially, she seemed to be a moderate, keen on pursuing bipartisan projects. Now, she’s promoting herself based on her ability to challenge both parties.
‘I’m running to put South Carolina first,’ Rep. Nancy Mace said.
In her campaign kickoff at her alma mater, The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina, she criticized the ‘weak leadership’ from previous years.
She pledged to no longer ‘turn a blind eye’ to ‘trannies invading women’s spaces, an unaccountable judicial process and failed schools.’
Her top priorities are to restore law and order, protect women and children and fix the judicial system.
She is embracing her contentious reputation from the House of Representatives as she enters an already crowded race to succeed outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster.
Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina announced she is running for governor
Other hopefuls include State Attorney General Alan Wilson, anti-Trump Rep. Ralph Norman, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and State Sen. Josh Kimbrell.
“Mace has angered both Democrats and members of her own party,” states a narrator in one of her new gubernatorial TV ads obtained by the Daily Mail.
‘She has a way of getting under their skin.’
Additionally, she introduced new proposals: The Republican presented a five-year strategy to abolish state income taxes, citing states like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas that have zero state income tax.
Mace also proposed initiatives to expand school choice, enhance vocational education, and suggested policies that could improve state and ICE cooperation to expedite deportations.
Before she took the stage at The Citadel, a Trump-inspired playlist of MAGA rally favorites like the Village People’s YMCA and Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ blared out.
Mace allies donning a mix of suits, golf polos, sandals and Lilly Pulitzer highlighter-colored dresses bobbed along in the crowd.
She’s proved to be a conservative rabble-rouser since her election to Congress in 2021.
Mace was one of eight GOP lawmakers to vote to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and has crusaded through Capitol Hill vowing to protect women in the name of restricting transgender rights.
Mace has been increasingly at odds with the trans community in recent years.
Once, she even barged into a Capitol restroom along with Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to investigate whether the patron was actually a woman. (Turns out she was).
She has even been confronted by members of the trans community at her town halls and political events.
‘Tranny, tranny, tranny. I don’t really care. You want penises in women’s bathrooms and I’m not going to have it. No, thank you,’ Mace fumed during a House Oversight Committee hearing in February about USAID funding to LGBT initiatives globally.
In February, Mace spoke on the House floor for an hour about her ex-fiancé whom she stunningly accused of being involved in sex crimes.
Mace holds up handcuffs and asks if anyone wants to arrest her for speaking out on behalf of women. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed it opened an investigation into alleged assault, harassment, and voyeurism on Dec. 14, 2023
Mace speaking at the Republican National Convention in July 2024
State police in South Carolina later opened an investigation into Mace’s stunning claims that she uncovered a rape and sex trafficking ring after sifting through digital information on her ex-fiance’s phone.
Mace’s ex-fiancé has denied the allegations.
During her remarks, which had some extra legal protections because she gave them from the House floor, Mace slammed South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, her opponent in the state’s governor race, for failing to investigate the matter.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed a probe into the matter one day after the extraordinary speech, where she identified four men she said were ‘predators’ and said she had uncovered video of herself being raped.
Mace’s stunning House floor speech and threat to go ‘scorched earth’ against people she called predators has since kicked off a series of legal action.
Mace in a statement called herself a ‘key witness for victims,’ alleges she faces a ‘smear campaign,’ and accuses a former advisor of ‘flagrant dishonesty.’ She calls herself a ‘key cooperating witness.’
The congresswoman told the Daily Mail on Monday that case regarding her ex is part of the reason she jumped into the gubernatorial race.
‘Well, one of the reasons I’m running is because of what happened … I understand how broken the system is,’ she said. ‘I have spoken to now so many victims unrelated to that case, and there’s still an open and ongoing investigation.’
‘This is not about me,’ she insisted. ‘This is about protecting them, and I’ll tell you, the establishment is coming after me because I’m standing up and fighting.’
