COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is seeking a third term with the support of former President Donald Trump, who tried to prevent her from running for a second term.
Supporting Trump after he called her crazy and awful in 2022 is just one of many reasons Mace attracted far more attention than a typical second-term member of Congress.
She regularly appears on interview shows, often provoking the hosts. She calls on her party to be more moderate on abortion and marijuana, but joined some of the most right-wing members in an effort to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Mace has said her views and beliefs are not erratic — she simply reflects the values of the 1st District, which stretches from Charleston’s century-old neighborhoods along the waterfront to Beaufort County’s blossoming, newly built neighborhoods home to retirees moving to South Carolina from elsewhere.
Mace faces two Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Her main rival, Catherine Templeton, ran the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control a decade ago to great chagrin and finished third in her only political race in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary, which Gov. Henry McMaster won.
Templeton argues that Mace is nowhere because he seems to land everywhere. Templeton promises to be a more reliable Republican voice in the U.S. House of Representatives.
There is a third Republican in the race. Marine veteran and financial planner Bill Young has also been campaigning demanding, and the race could easily end in a two-week runoff on June 25. Candidates must receive a majority of the vote to win Tuesday’s primary outright.
Democrats also have a primary in the 1st District. Businessman and former CEO of the International African American Museum Michael Moore is running against Mac Deford, a Citadel graduate and attorney for some of the district’s larger bedroom communities.
South Carolina lawmakers moved the district more Republican after the seat flipped for one term in 2018. The 1st District was the only congressional district that Nikki Haley won against Trump in the 2024 South Carolina Republican presidential primary.
4th District
The other member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina who is in the primary for re-election is Republican Rep. William Timmons of the 4th District, which is anchored by Greenville and Spartanburg.
Timmons’ divorce – and a widely shared Instagram post by a husband claiming Timmons had an affair with his wife – have complicated his re-election bid. Timmons has denied the allegations and asked for privacy.
Timmons’ challenger in a bid for a fourth term is South Carolina Rep. Adam Morgan, who heads the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative lawmakers in state government. He is attacking Timmons from the right, saying he is not conservative enough to be a true Republican.
Trump endorsed Timmons. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who campaigned to oust McCarthy as Speaker of the House, supported Morgan’s campaign on social media.
3rd District
South Carolina’s 3rd District is wide open after Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan decided not to run for re-election after seven terms. Duncan’s wife of 35 years filed for divorce in 2023, accusing him of multiple affairs.
Seven Republicans are in the race and there is no real frontrunner. The district in the northwest of the state includes several tiny population centers.
Governor McMaster endorsed her longtime friend and nurse Sheri Biggs in her first run for political office. Trump’s endorsement went to Mark Burns, a black pastor who had supported Trump since before his first presidential campaign.
The other candidates are Kevin Bishop, who worked for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham for more than 25 years; Stewart Jones, who served in the South Carolina House of Representatives for five years and is the only candidate with political experience; Franky Franco, a businessman and son of a Cuban exile and an Ecuadorian immigrant; Phil Healy, who served in the U.S. Navy for 23 years; and Elspeth Snow Murday, a political newcomer who studies the genes of crops.
The 3rd District Democratic primary is between high school science teacher Frances Guldner and Byron Best, who runs a Sherwin Williams paint store in Greenwood.
Other races
The only other incumbent candidate in the U.S. House of Representatives facing a challenger in the primary is Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, who is seeking a 12th full term in the 2nd District, which stretches from the suburbs around Columbia in the west and south to Aiken.
His opponent is the building contractor Hamp Redmond, who says he decided to run because of Wilson’s “Ukraine First” policy.
In the 6th District Republican primary, attorney Duke Buckner is running against welder Justin Scott. The winner will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is seeking a 17th term in the state’s minority district, which borders the Charleston, Beaufort and Columbia areas.
In the 7th District Democratic primary, teacher Mal Hyman, who describes himself as an independent Democrat, is running against Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom veteran Daryl Scott. The winner will face Republican U.S. Rep. Russel Fry, who is seeking a second term in the district, which stretches from Myrtle Beach to Florence in the northeastern part of the state.
