Nancy Mace says SC has ‘gone woke.’ Here’s what Gov. McMaster thinks

Is South Carolina woke? It depends on which Republican politician is talking.

While teasing a bid for the governor’s mansion, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace claimed that South Carolina has “gone woke.” Gov. Henry McMaster disagreed with her sentiment.

“I believe I may be forced to run for governor because I can’t watch my beautiful, red state of South Carolina go woke,” Mace said on Fox News.

“It’s gone woke over the last couple of years,” she said.

McMaster has been governor since 2018, and he told reporters Wednesday that the state government is not woke.

“I know that there’s a lot of wokeism, whatever they call it, in some places,” McMaster said. “But I would not say it’s in this state government. It’s not in these walls.”

Woke refers to awareness or attentiveness of issues related to racial or social justice. Conservative lawmakers and activists have co-opted the term to mean generally liberal or progressive.

If Mace steps into the governor’s race, which she may do at a scheduled special announcement on Monday, she would be competing against Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in the GOP primary next June.