SC Republican Nancy Mace challenges Democrat Joe Cunningham to two more debates
Republican congressional candidate Nancy Mace issued a challenge Thursday to her Democratic opponent in South Carolina’s top U.S. House race — two televised debates, and potentially one as early as next week.
Mace, a Daniel Island state lawmaker who is trying to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham in the November election, issued the debate challenge in a letter to Cunningham’s campaign.
“With incumbency comes a great responsibility to address your record,” Mace wrote in the letter, which was obtained first by The State newspaper. “How does next week look for you?”
The call for two televised debates came less than 48 hours after Mace and Cunningham sparred in what was supposed to be their final debate before the Nov. 3 general election.
That debate, which was hosted by WCIV ABC News Channel 4 in Charleston, was live-streamed on the news channel’s website and Facebook page but was not televised. It will air on Sunday.
The first debate on Sept. 28 was televised statewide and was hosted in Beaufort by SCETV and The Post and Courier.
Mace had previously challenged Cunningham to five debates over the summer, but only two were finalized.
Without mentioning the pandemic, Mace acknowledged that the pandemic has changed the way voters are learning about candidates this campaign season.
“With this very important election and decision for voters looming, just 26 days away, and folks at home staying safe and healthy, it’s important that Lowcountry voters hear from you,” she wrote.
In a statement provided to The State newspaper, the Cunningham campaign brushed off Mace’s latest call for more debates, characterizing it as a “desperate” attempt to turn things around.
Cunningham’s campaign manager, Allie Watters, noted there have now been double the number of congressional debates in the race as there were in 2018, with one debate each held in district’s two media markets.
“Another debate won’t change the fact that Nancy Mace wants to raise taxes by 23%, cut our military by $3 trillion, cut Medicare and Social Security and it certainly won’t change the fact that she’s missed 30% of her votes at the state house just this year,” Watters said in a statement. “The debates have ended and people are now voting. And Nancy Mace is scared to death of what the voters are going to say.”
The move by Mace to challenge Cunningham to more debates is not surprising, as it is often challengers who initiate the push for debates with incumbents in an effort to try and raise their profile.
Though there has been no polling shared publicly in this race, national election forecasters have slowly been shifting the race in Cunningham’s advantage despite the historically Republican voting behavior of the district.
South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District was a solid Republican seat until Cunningham narrowly won it in 2018, ending a nearly 40-year streak of GOP representation in the Charleston-anchored district overnight. The results stunned political watchers across the nation.
Yet, Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics shifted the 1st District congressional race in early September from “toss up” to “lean Democratic.”
And one day after the first debate between Mace and Cunningham, David Wasserman, the House Editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, moved the race from “toss up” to “lean Democratic.”
“It certainly suggests that Cunningham has a lead. The question is how big is that lead,” said College of Charleston political scientist Jordan Ragusa.
Ragusa said Mace’s call for more debates is a familiar strategy for a challenger, since they tend to matter more for them as they seek to build name identification in their race. Mace in 1999 became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets.
He said it also shows Mace may be looking to build momentum. Ragusa watched both debates and said Mace performed better in the second debate than the first.
“It stands to see that she would stand to improve in a third or fourth debate,” Ragusa said.
“Debates also matter more for the candidate that has less money to spend, and certainly that’s Mace in this cycle. Campaigns fundraise doggedly during and after debates,” he added.
Mace’s campaign announced she has raised more than $2.3 million in the most recent fundraising quarter, which ended last week. It was larger than the $1.8 million Cunningham’s campaign reported raising during the same three-month period.
Despite Mace’s fundraising haul, Cunningham still reports having more money overall. His campaign says Cunningham has raised more than $6.1 million this cycle, a figure that topples the 2010 congressional fundraising record in the state previously set by U.S. Rep Joe Wilson, R-Springdale.
The outcome of South Carolina’s 1st District 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.
Mace’s campaign manager, Mara Mellstrom, said her candidate’s calls for more debates comes down to one thing: Wanting voters to hear their congressman answer for his record in office.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 11:06 AM.
