Rep. Nancy Mace wins SC’s 1st District GOP race, will face Joe Cunningham in November
The South Carolina Republican Party has its nominee in the Lowcountry’s 1st District congressional race.
The Associated Press declared state Rep. Nancy Mace, 42, of Daniel Island the winner Tuesday night over three challengers — Chris Cox, Brad Mole and Kathy Landing — after she was able to quickly shore up thousands of voters in what will be one of the state’s most hotly contested congressional races in November when Mace faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham.
With two of five counties reporting, Mace was ahead with almost 58 percent of the vote.
“I am someone who is fiscally conservative and a true reflection of the district,” Mace told The State earlier this month.
“I have the track record of being a truly independent voice.”
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has described the November match-up as a toss up.
Republicans have been eager to win back the coastal seat after a stunning upset in 2018, when former state Rep. Katie Arrington ousted former U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford but ultimately went on to lose to Cunningham by almost 4,000 votes, or 1.4% percentage points.
Mace is a known name in the state — from challenging U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in the state’s 2014 GOP primary to working for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign — and had pitched herself as the only candidate able to raise enough money to compete with Cunningham’s sizeable war chest.
She was the first female graduate from what was the state’s all-male military college, The Citadel. She won her Berkeley County seat in a 2018 special election, filling the vacancy of then-Rep. Jim Merrill who resigned from office. While in the Legislature, Mace authored what is now a law that bans the shacking or restraining of pregnant inmates or detainees in S.C. prisons and jails. And she worked to amend anti-abortion legislation to include exceptions for incest and rape after detailing last year her own story of sexual assault.
She’s solidified notable endorsements from U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California to anti-tax group Club for Growth.
The S.C. GOP said it plans to spend most of its time in the Lowcountry past June.
That district went for Trump in 2016, and with Trump at the top of the ticket could help the GOP take back the competitive seat.
In a statement, S.C. GOP chairman Drew McKissick said now is the time the party must unify.
“Beating Democrat Joe Cunningham is going to require party unity and a lot of work,” McKissick said. “But we’ve got the resources and manpower to do it. We’re ready to get to work highlighting Cunningham’s liberal Democrat record that’s proved he’s put his party over the Lowcountry. And I’m confident we’ve got the drive and organization to flip this seat back to the Republican Party in November.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 8:45 PM.
