Rep. Joe Cunningham concedes to Republican Nancy Mace after SC seat flipped back red
In the very place where his congressional candidacy began in South Carolina three years ago, Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham accepted defeat.
For two years, Cunningham represented South Carolina’s coastal and reliably Republican 1st Congressional District — a feat that no national analysts thought would ever happen when he was elected in 2018.
His victory that year, which he won by less than 4,000 votes, stunned the nation. In 2020, by less than 6,000 votes, he lost to Republican state lawmaker Nancy Mace.
In his concession speech Friday morning, Cunningham acknowledged the new political reality. Cunningham said he called Mace to congratulate her on her victory.
“She’s now my representative for the Lowcountry, and I am rooting for her success as she confronts the significant challenges we are facing right now as a nation,” Cunningham, 38, said as more than 50 of his supporters stood behind him at the U.S. Customs House in downtown Charleston.
He took no questions from the media.
Cunningham’s concession came less than 24 hours after election officials finished tallying votes for South Carolina’s most competitive U.S. House race.
Though the Associated Press had called the race in Mace’s favor at 2:04 a.m. Wednesday, Cunningham’s campaign had been watching to see if more than 14,000 absentee ballots in Dorchester County would sway the race back his way.
It wasn’t enough to overcome Mace’s lead.
The results showed Mace had secured a 1.26% margin of victory, which was enough to edge out a mandatory recount. A recount would have been triggered automatically if the difference between the the candidates had been 1% or less.
With all precincts reporting in the district, the totals show Mace secured 50.58% of the vote to Cunningham’s 49.32%. The district includes all or sections of Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Beaufort and Colleton counties.
Unofficial returns show Mace won 5,359 more votes than Cunningham. Election results were being certified as Cunningham addressed supporters.
Reading from a binder that held a typed speech, Cunningham thanked his wife, Amanda, for believing in him when no one else did. Then, he addressed his 2-year-old son, Boone, whose own young life ran parallel to the start of Cunningham’s political career.
The day after Cunningham announced his candidacy in 2017, his wife told him that she was pregnant. This year, Boone appeared with Cunningham in his final campaign ad of the race.
“Leaving you for days at a time to go to Washington was the hardest part of my job. But I left our house every single time knowing that I was creating a better world for you and the next generation. I hope that I made you proud and that I continue to do so,” Cunningham said, adding, “Dada loves you.”
Mace, a 42-year-old single mother of two, thanked Cunningham for his service to the Palmetto State in a written statement.
“The Lowcountry thanks you. I thank you,” Mace said. “I also want to thank your family. Any time you’re in elected office, your family makes enormous sacrifices to serve.”
Mace, who was the first woman to graduate from The Citadel Corps of Cadets, is the first Republican woman in South Carolina ever elected to Congress.
Cunningham had never run for office when he was narrowly elected to represent South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2018, a seat previously held by Mark Sanford, who was rejected by GOP primary voters in 2018 for not being in lockstep with Trump’s agenda.
Cunningham was the first Democrat in nearly 40 years to hold the seat and won the election on the so-called “blue wave” of the 2018 midterms, when Democrats picked up 41 U.S. House seats.
Almost immediately, Republicans vowed revenge and identified Cunningham’s seat as a top target on their path to try and reclaim a majority in 2020.
The South Carolina Republican Party launched its plans for a 1st District reclamation project before Cunningham was even sworn into office.
With his defeat, Cunningham becomes one of at least five U.S. House Democrats representing congressional districts Donald Trump won in 2016 to lose their seats.
Cunningham, however, spoke of the lasting impact he hoped he had made.
“I think the coalition that we created — people from both parties or no party at all, from all backgrounds, from every stretch of this beautiful district — represented a vision of a better South for all of our citizens,” Cunningham said.
Though Cunningham lost his election, he said he was hopeful that the presidential election would put the country “on the right track towards electing a good and decent man to lead us.”
“I think when all the ballots are counted, Joe Biden will be our president,” Cunningham said, to applause from his supporters.
Cunningham’s father, Bill Cunningham, watched nearby as his son closed this chapter. When his son graduated from high school, he had turned to him for advice on how to get into politics.
A former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice, Bill Cunningham had been in public office for decades but he acknowledged the sting of the loss.
“We’re hurting. We’re hurting real bad,” his dad said. “But a little hurt is a good thing for someone in politics.”
Cunningham’s family had gathered to watch results come in with Joe Cunningham on Tuesday night, but then gave him space to process what had happened.
Alec Cunningham, who had run across the Ravenel Bridge with a “Cunningham for Congress” flag in both the 2018 and 2020 races, said he was proud of his brother.
“My dad has always pressed upon us the importance of humility. And to be humble in victory and defeat. Joe is the personification of this,” Alec Cunningham said in a text message after the speech.
The outgoing congressman said he had two more months left to serve the Lowcountry before Mace is sworn into office.
“I intend to serve this district with every fiber of my being until my time is up. So to the people of the Lowcountry: My office is open. We are working and we will continue to be here for you if you need anything at all,” he said, promising to help assist Mace with the transition.
As Cunningham walked away from his press conference, his supporters began to chant, “2022! 2022!”
It’s the next time Cunningham could mount another congressional run.
But the outgoing congressman did not respond. He kept walking.
Then, he turned and waved.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 10:28 AM.
