Nancy Mace Launches Bid for S.C. Governor

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R‑S.C., officially launched her campaign Monday for governor of South Carolina, aiming to succeed the term‑limited Gov. Henry McMaster.

Mace, 47, joins a GOP primary in which competition for President Donald Trump's endorsement — and the backing of his base of supporters — is expected to be fierce.

Mace, who last year won her third term representing South Carolina’s 1st District, made the announcement in a statement on a new campaign website, which she followed up with a launch event at The Citadel military college in Charleston. 

“I’m running for governor because South Carolina doesn’t need another empty suit and needs a governor who will fight for you and your values," Mace said. "South Carolina needs a governor who will drag the truth into sunlight and flip the tables if that's what it takes.”

Mace was the first woman in The Citadel's Corps of Cadets when she gratuated in 1999.

Last week she announced her "Mother of ALL Town Halls Tour," to begin in Myrtle Beach, Soutj Carolina, on Wednesday.

Mace enters a crowded GOP primary field that includes Rep. Ralph Norman, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, and Attorney General Alan Wilson.

She has traded public barbs with Wilson, who is suing her for defamation after she accused him of ignoring evidence in a sexual abuse case she raised on the House floor.

Despite the acrimony, early polls show her slightly ahead among declared Republican primary voters, though many remain undecided.

Mace told The Associated Press on Sunday she plans a multi-pronged platform aimed in part at shoring up the state’s criminal justice system, ending South Carolina's income tax, protecting women and children, expanding school choice and vocational education and improving the state's energy options.

Official filing for South Carolina’s 2026 elections doesn’t open until March.

Saying she plans to seek his support, Mace pointed to her defense of Trump in an interview that resulted in ABC News agreeing to pay $15 million toward his presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit. She also noted that she called Trump early this year as part of an effort to persuade GOP holdouts to support Rep. Mike Johnson to become House speaker.

“No one will work harder to get his attention and his endorsement,” she said. “No one else in this race can say they've been there for the president like I have, as much as I have and worked as hard as I have to get the president his agenda delivered to him in the White House.”