SC Democrat to run against Nancy Mace for Lowcountry seat in Congress
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace has a new Democratic challenger for her Lowcountry congressional seat.
Annie Andrews, a pediatrician at MUSC Children’s Health, announced she is running against the Charleston Republican in a two-minute video posted to social media on Monday.
“Even on the toughest days, I’m proud to call myself a pediatrician,” Andrews said. “But right now, I believe the failure of our elected officials to care about our children is the greatest threat facing our children,” citing the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence and the quality of schools.
Her campaign will focus on “issues that matter most to the Lowcountry, like getting past this pandemic, addressing climate change, protecting our coastline, fixing our roads, and yes, tackling gun violence, which is now the leading cause of death in our kids.”
Andrews has worked for MUSC since 2009, as well as serving as a professor of pediatrics at the medical university. She is a researcher in gun violence prevention working to reduce childhood firearm injuries by educating the community on safe practices, according to an email from the campaign.
Over video of Mace firing guns from the first-term congresswoman’s own campaign ads, Andrews says, “I don’t know what job she’s auditioning for, but it’s not to represent us. ... She refuses to stand up to her own party and is more interested in being famous than effective.”
Mace was elected to Congress last year, defeating incumbent Democrat Joe Cunningham after Cunningham served a single term. She previously represented a Charleston-area district in the S.C. House of Representatives. At the end of September, Mace reported having more than $2.1 million on hand for a 2022 re-election campaign.
South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District could look different by Election Day than it did when Mace was first elected, however. A surge in new residents along South Carolina’s coast in the 2020 census will likely influence how lawmakers draw the maps for the 2022 election.
Mace faces at least three announced challengers in next June’s GOP primary: Iraq War veteran T.J. Allen, retired Army officer Ingrid Centurion, and Realtor and motivational speaker Lynz Piper-Loomis.
Filing for congressional candidates in South Carolina will close in late March.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 11:12 AM.
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