Politics & Government
Nancy Mace lands top GOP leader’s endorsement in SC’s Lowcountry race
Republican U.S. House leader Kevin McCarthy is weighing into South Carolina’s competitive Lowcountry congressional race, putting his support behind state Rep. Nancy Mace in her effort to unseat Democratic Congressman Joe Cunningham.
McCarthy, of California, endorsed Mace, a Berkeley County Republican, on Tuesday, calling her a “uniquely impressive candidate.”
“Her deep local roots and impressive life story makes her the ideal leader to represent the great people of South Carolina’s First District,” McCarthy said. “Nancy’s tireless work ethic, conservative track record, and ability to get things done are exactly what’s needed on Capitol Hill. I look forward to fighting alongside her in Congress to Keep America Great.”
A McCarthy spokesman, Drew Florio, confirmed McCarthy’s support and his plans to join Mace for a fundraiser in Charleston in the coming weeks, but the timing is now in flux due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the ongoing congressional response in Washington, D.C.
Mace is running to win back the 1st District seat for Republicans, a stronghold for the party until the 2018 midterms when Cunningham became the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly 40 years.
That district — which includes Charleston, Hilton Head Island and Summerville — supported President Donald Trump in 2016.
Mace already has been identified by the National Republican Congressional Committee — a fundraising arm of House Republicans — as a “contender” of the group’s Young Guns program. That program identifies GOP candidates the NRCC says are mounting competitive bids to win congressional seats.
But an endorsement from McCarthy, an influential national player from California, could help Mace further tip the scales in her primary run against now seven Republican candidates for the seat.
Mace has outraised her primary challengers, federal filings show. As of last year, Mace had raised more than $868,000 — a majority of that from individual contributions. She ended the quarter with more than $712,000 cash on hand.
McCarthy, however, is one of the party’s most prolific fundraisers whose endorsement will likely help elevate Mace’s profile in and outside the district. McCarthy will be able to connect Mace with the donors she needs not only to win her primary but compete in a general election campaign against Cunningham, who is also flush with cash as one of the most vulnerable incumbents of the 2020 cycle.
McCarthy is also himself an enthusiastic contributor to up-and-coming congressional candidates — particularly women and people of color, where the party has seen diminishing numbers.
In a recent interview with McClatchy, McCarthy said it is his goal to increase the number of GOP women and minorities in the House next year, which currently has only 15 women and eight Latinos in the House Republican class. The only black Republican congressman, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, is retiring.
“One hundred percent it will be more diverse and it will be larger,” McCarthy told McClatchy of House Republicans in the next Congress. “I will guarantee you we win seats. And they will be women and people of color. We are not going to be 98% white male.”
McCarthy could even help deliver Mace a second, perhaps even more consequential endorsement: He told McClatchy he recently sat down with Trump to “walk him through” his own slate of House GOP primary endorsements,which could ultimately include Mace — the first female graduate of The Citadel, worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign — down the line.
Trump has previously endorsed in this district before.
In 2018, he publicly endorsed Sanford’s primary opponent, former state Rep. Katie Arrington, who went on to win the primary.
“The president has not endorsed in that (Mace’s) race,” McCarthy said, “(but) I’m a big believer in her. I think she’s been earning the right.”
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