MAGA ally Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) made a significant career announcement on Monday that is likely to disrupt President Donald Trump’s base.
Mace declared her intention to enter the South Carolina gubernatorial race, which already has a growing number of candidates.
In her announcement, Mace expressed her frustration with politicians who smile for the cameras, deceive the public, and then disappear when leadership is required.
“I’m not one of them,” she stated. “I’m running for governor because South Carolina does not need another empty suit. It requires a governor who will advocate for you and your values.”
She presented a platform that includes freezing the state’s general fund spending at around $11.6 billion, mandating each state agency to cut its budget by 3% to 4% annually, enhancing access to vocational and trade schools, and defunding any office, agency, or department that fails to adhere to state or federal law, as reported by CNN.
Mace is currently in her third term in Congress. Once a prominent critic of Donald Trump, she has since closely aligned herself with the president. Her campaign launch video highlighted her pro-Trump credentials, featuring a clip of Trump commending her as a “fighter.”
She is anticipated to compete against a former prosecutor in the Republican primary, whom she has accused of mishandling an investigation into her ex-fiancé, whom she alleged had abused her earlier this year.
Other GOP candidates in the race include South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, as noted by CNN.
Mace, 47, made history in 1999 as the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel, South Carolina’s military college. She began her political journey in 2018 with a position in the South Carolina House of Representatives and was elected to Congress in 2020 after winning a Democratic-held district.
In 2021, Mace was one of seven House Republicans who endorsed a letter claiming that Congress did not possess the authority to reverse the 2020 election results in favor of Trump. Additionally, she expressed strong criticism regarding Trump’s role in the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol that year, as reported by CNN.
“I aspire to be a new voice for the Republican Party, and that is one of the reasons I have vocally opposed the president and the QAnon conspiracy theorists who have led us into a constitutional crisis,” Mace stated in 2021. “This is simply unacceptable, and we must put an end to it.”
