Some Mace campaign expenses a mystery according to SC Ethics Commission reports
On Sept. 30 of last year, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s campaign for governor paid $2,500 to American Express. The amount covered expenses for a trip to southern California, including $1,930 at the L’emeritage Beverly Hills, a hotel in the upscale community.
But when the $2,500 payment to American Express was listed the campaign’s third quarter finance report, Mace’s team described the expenditure as “see memo” with no other details.
It’s a practice that Mace’s team used to initially describe about $42,000 worth of expenses in her fourth quarter report. The phrase “see memo” was used five times in her initial fourth quarter report, according to a review by The State newspaper. Mace initially used the phrase one time in her third quarter report.
Online reports did not include a memo, and the State Ethics Commission did not receive memos when the quarterly reports were first filed.
In most of the instances, the vendor being paid is the credit card company American Express, and in one instance, the vendor listed is Nancy Mace, one of the five Republicans running for governor this year.
However, state law requires campaign expenses must be paid out of the campaign’s checking account.
Using the phrase “see memo” in campaign expense reports is common in federal campaigns. Mace is in her third term as a member of Congress representing the Lowcountry.
Mace’s campaign has since amended her state ethics reports, but about $33,000 worth of expenses paid to American Express still say “see memo” and have no accompanying details that are publicly available.
When initially asked about the unspecified expenses, a Mace campaign spokeswoman said it appeared to be a technical issue in how the expenses were submitted, and the campaign was in touch with the State Ethics Commission.
As the campaign amends its reports, the campaign’s compliance team is working with the Ethics Commission to input the pertinent information, but technical issues are keeping the updates from being completed, specifically citing a “word count” technical error, the campaign spokeswoman said.
Those who oversee the Ethics Commission reporting page are working to expand the character limit for expense descriptions.
The remaining “see memo” expenses included $13,876.52 paid to American Express on Dec. 3; $13,614.63 paid to American Express paid Nov. 13; and $5,532.44 paid to American Express on Oct. 2.
The listing of expenses descriptions is for transparency to show how money contributed to campaigns is being used for legitimate campaign purposes.
“It’s less about the method of payment as much as it is about what the payment was for,” state Rep. David Weeks, D-Sumter, said speaking generally about campaign finance reporting and not commenting specifically on the Mace expense reports.
He added campaign expenditures have to clearly delineate who was paid and what service or product was provided on each quarterly finance report.
Weeks, who serves as the vice chair of the House Ethics Committee, added using a campaign debit card means the money come straight out of an account and the expenses are individually listed in a monthly statement.
Credit cards may also come with rewards and who gets to use those rewards also raises question whether the rewards are the campaign’s and whether that counts as a contribution.
If a campaign uses a credit card, it should be in the campaign committee’s name and not a personal credit card.
“The whole point of these ethics reporting laws is for full transparency. For someone who’s going to be looking at your account expenditure, they’ll be able to get to see actually what you spent and what you spent it for,” Weeks said.
The SC Ethics Commission declined to comment on the situation, but a 2026 newsletter for candidates says every campaign must have its own checking account, even if the candidate is only spending his or her own money.
“All campaign contributions (even your own) should go into your campaign checking account and all campaign expenditures should come out of your campaign checking,” the SC Ethics Commission wrote in the newsletter, which helps act as a guide for candidates.
The Ethics Commission also advises candidates not to use campaign money for personal expenses, but allows campaigns to reimburse staff and the candidate for mileage. The commission also said in the candidate newsletter that “campaign expenses should be paid using a check or credit/debit card.” Those cards must be tied to the campaign checking account.
“Our compliance team was incorrectly informed by Ethics that we were permitted to use a credit card for campaign expenses. Since this has come to our attention, we have stopped using a credit card for campaign expenses,” Mace’s campaign spokeswoman said in a statement to The State.
The campaign has since amended the expenses to show what Mace was being reimbursed for. On Oct. 1, Mace was reimbursed $7,800, which included nearly $4,900 worth of printing costs and nearly $2,400 for office supplies, Ethics reports show.
“Nancy Mace isn’t rich like her opponents. She hasn’t lent her campaign money or made money in politics; she works hard for every penny and follows all ethics rules accordingly,” the campaign spokeswoman said.
On Sept. 30, Mace’s campaign paid $2,500 to American Express for what appears to be a trip to southern California. That payment covered $1,930 paid to L’emeritage Beverly Hills, which is a luxury hotel, $191 as a meeting expense paid to the Ivy Restaurant in Los Angeles, about $328 paid to American Airlines for airfare, and $50 to the Charlotte Airport as a travel expense.
The campaign also has used an American Express credit card to buy office supplies from Amazon and Walmart and to pay for Google software, amended records show.
Mace, who is under investigation by the Ethics Committee in the U.S. House, so far has raised $1.6 million for her campaign for governor, and spent nearly $777,000 during the cycle. As of the end of last year, she had $862,000 cash on hand.
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
