South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, the three-term congresswoman who went from criticizing Donald Trump to becoming one of his biggest supporters in Congress, has teased a run for governor.
“I will be making a decision over the next couple of days about my future,” Mace said during a weekend interview on Fox. “I believe I may be forced to run for governor because I can’t watch my beautiful red state of South Carolina go woke. It’s gone woke over the last couple of years.”
Mace, who was first elected to Congress in 2020 when she beat an incumbent Democrat, on Monday posted on X that she had a “big announcement.”
Since the end of last year, Mace has become one of the most outspoken voices against transgender people. When Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, Mace attempted to have her banned from using the restroom on Capitol Hill. This came despite the fact that in the past, Mace supported LGBTQ+ rights and was one of a handful of Republicans who voted for legislation to codify protections for same-sex and interracial married couples in 2022.
That reflects a larger shift Mace had. In 2023, she spoke with The Independent and said that when it came to abortion, Republicans were “not going to win hearts and minds over by being a**holes to women.”
Mace billed herself as a moderate on abortion, supporting exceptions for rape and incest. She described her experiences as a rape survivor who dropped out of high school before working at a Waffle House while working on her GED before becoming the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, a prestigious military academy.
She also clashed with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), the right-wing firebrand congresswoman who has regularly promoted conspiracy theories, saying “bless her f***ing heart.”
In the days after the January 6 riot at the Capitol, Mace opposed impeaching Trump but criticized his actions, but blamed him for the riot. Trump then endorsed her primary opponent Katie Arrington in the 2022 primary.
That signaled a change. After Trump endorsed Arrington, Mace posted a video of herself in front of Trump Tower, which Trump roundly mocked.
In addition, after initially backing Kevin McCarthy to become speaker of the House, she joined Matt Gaetz in his coup with six other Republicans and every Democrat in 2023. In 2024, she endorsed Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Mace voted earlier this month for Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and filmed videos of herself driving up to Washington in her pajamas to vote for it. When The Independent asked her about how states would have to shoulder more the cost of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, because of the bill, she said “my policy is, if you're an able-bodied person and you want Medicaid? Get a f***ing job.”
But Mace’s legislative record is relatively thin. In her time in Washington, she only authored one piece of legislation that passed, which renamed a post office in Hilton Head.
Mace faces a competitive primary against Attorney General Alan Wilson and Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the archconservative House Freedom Caucus that usually initially opposes Republican legislation before ultimately folding and voting for Trump’s legislation. Current Governor Henry McMaster is term-limited.
Mace already clashed with Wilson in February, when she delivered a speech on the floor of the House earlier this year and accused her ex-fiancé and three other men of sex crimes. During that speech, she accused Wilson of failing to act on her accusations. But Wilson responded by saying that the accusations never made it to his office.
