In final SC congressional debate, Nancy Mace and Joe Cunningham try to avoid Trump

In the final congressional debate before Election Day, both Republican Nancy Mace and Democrat Joe Cunningham were put on the spot about President Donald Trump: Is he a uniter or a divider?

Instead, they dodged the question.

With less than 30 days to go until the Nov. 3 election, Mace and Cunningham are in the final stretch of their campaigns to represent South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, a coastal region that in 2016 overwhelmingly voted for Trump.

But Tuesday night, neither candidate sought to defend Trump when given the opportunity. And neither aligned themselves with the president as they seek to secure their own electoral victory in November.

Cunningham, considered one of the most vulnerable freshman Democrats in the House, repeated his campaign slogan to put “Lowcountry over party.” When he was elected to congress in 2018, Cunningham became the first Democrat in nearly 40 years to represent the Charleston-anchored district.

“I will voice my opposition when I disagree with President Trump, and I’m going to work with him when I agree,” said Cunningham, the Democratic incumbent, calling it a point of “clear contrast” between him and Mace.

He would not say if Trump was a uniter or a divider.

Mace, a state lawmaker who worked on the Trump campaign from September 2015 until August 2016, did not answer the question.

Instead, she questioned Cunningham’s claims of bipartisanship and working across the aisle, saying he votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 90% of the time.

“It’s not moderate. It’s not independent. If that’s the bar for independence, then we’ve set a new low bar,” Mace said.

The moment unfolded during the fourth question of Tuesday night’s debate, which was a socially distanced event inside Charleston Southern University’s Lightsey Chapel Auditorium.

The only people allowed in the auditorium were the two congressional candidates, journalist Dean Stephens, who acted as the in-person moderator, and the television crew members from WCIV ABC News Channel 4 in Charleston, which hosted the debate along with the school.

Repeating themes

“That shouldn’t have been a very hard question,” said Gibbs Knotts, a political scientist at the College of Charleston who watched the debate.

South Carolina’s 1st Congressional district is a place where Trump triumphed over Hillary Clinton by 13 percentage points in 2016.

“But this is also the very type of place where his support has eroded: In college-educated, suburban areas,” Knotts said. “In the general election, both are trying to expand beyond their bases. And both made the calculation tonight that if Trump is not going to help them win, then they don’t want to talk about him too much.”

It was the second debate in as many weeks between the two political candidates. In total, the hour-long debate covered 15 questions, with topics that included affordable housing, jobs, the national deficit and health care.

The same themes from the first debate resurfaced, but this time with greater intensity. Those two contentious topics were about missing votes and the future of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island.

Cunningham, 38, again spent much of the debate accusing Mace of failing to do her job at the S.C. State House, pointing to her absenteeism on recent votes.

Mace, 42, again fired back that she should not be criticized for being a single, working mother.

But this time, both went further.

Each candidate was allowed only three rebuttals, which they had to use strategically throughout the debate.

Mace used one to address the women who were watching, and to push back against Cunningham.

“If you set a goal, you can achieve it if you just work hard enough. I don’t think that we should discourage women for running for office, because if we don’t run, we have no way to win,” said Mace, who is among a national wave of Republican women who are running for Congress.

Cunningham used one of his rebuttals to hammer home his point about the importance of showing up for work.

“Look, Representative Mace, I’m a working parent as well, and whenever I kiss my son, Boone, goodbye at the beginning of the week and I leave for D.C. for several days, my wife becomes a single working parent as well,” Cunningham said. “The fact is there are lots of working parents out here in the Lowcountry and they continue to show up.”

Mace doubled down on her claim that Cunningham’s vote on a massive defense bill put the Parris Island Marine base “on the chopping block.” She argued the final package included an amendment inserted by “California liberals, his colleagues” requiring Marines to prohibit gender-segregated training at Parris Island in the next five years.

Members of South Carolina’s Washington delegation have refuted her claim.

One rare agreement

Both candidates accused each other repeatedly of lying or failing to tell the truth.

Cunningham criticized Mace for her support of a fair tax that would create a 23% increase on goods, like prescriptions and groceries. Throughout the debate, he called them “the Mace tax.”

Mace called it “dishonest.”

“I am not going to raise your taxes. I don’t want to raise your taxes. He’s throwing around numbers from 23% to 30%. I’m not even sure he knows what he’s talking about anymore,” Mace said, touting her rating as the fourth most fiscally conservative member of the S.C. State House.

After spending most of the night trading jabs, the night ended in rare agreement.

Both Mace and Cunningham said they support gay marriage.

No other debates in the race are scheduled.

“This has become a very competitive race. It seemed like there was some tension on the stage, definitely,” said, Knotts, the political scientist. “I don’t know if it’s become personal, but there was a lot of frustration between them. Maybe it’s frustration with the way the race has turned and the accusations that were flying.”

While no polling has been publicly shared in the contest, national prognosticators, like the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, have been slowly shifting the race in Cunningham’s favor. Last week, they shifted it from “toss up” to “leaning Democratic.”

Recent fundraising figures may hint at newfound momentum by Mace.

Mace’s campaign announced she has raised more than $2.3 million in the most recent fundraising quarter, which ended Wednesday. It was larger than the $1.8 million Cunningham’s campaign reported raising during the same three-month period.

The outcome of the race carries national implications.

National Republicans see it as a must-win if they hope to win back control of the U.S. House, while national Democrats are eager to defend their newfound territory in ruby red South Carolina.

Tuesday’s debate, which was not televised, will air 8 p.m. Sunday on WCIV ABC News Channel 4 in Charleston. It can also be viewed on the TV station’s website and Facebook page.

This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 9:40 PM.