GOP Congresswoman Announces Gubernatorial Run

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) became the latest contender to enter the race for South Carolina governor.

“I’m running to be the Governor of South Carolina! God’s not done with South Carolina and neither am I. You and me. Our mission begins now. South Carolina First. Nancy Mace for Governor,” Mace wrote on social media Monday morning.

Watch her campaign ad:

I’m running to be the Governor of South Carolina!

God’s not done with South Carolina and neither am I. You and me. Our mission begins now.

South Carolina First. Nancy Mace for Governor.https://t.co/tkO1oN5G0W pic.twitter.com/odvxAKfz5b

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) August 4, 2025

Fox News has more:

Mace, as she launched her campaign, argued that “we can continue doing the things we’ve always done,” as she took aim at what she called “weak leadership” in the state.

“Or we can chart a new course – one filled with common sense and bold policies to hold the line for South Carolina,” she emphasized.

And Mace went up on a newly launched campaign website with a 10-point agenda that she called “a clear, conservative, common sense roadmap to rebuild South Carolina from the ground up:”

Mace followed her announcement with a campaign policy event Monday morning in Charleston at the Citadel, which is South Carolina’s public military college and her alma mater.

“This morning I’m making it official,” she told supporters. “I’m running for governor because South Carolina doesn’t need another empty suit.”

Mace joins a crowded GOP primary field to lead the Palmetto State.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) declared his candidacy last month.

Republican Congressman Launches Gubernatorial Bid

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell are among the other GOP contenders in the red-leaning state.

Watch Mace announce her run for governor:

Nancy Mace Announces Run for Governor https://t.co/sMGBflZJDw

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) August 4, 2025

Further info from the New York Post:

Mace has already traded barbs with some of her competitors, namely Wilson, whom she publicly accused of ignoring evidence she presented alleging she suffered sexual abuse from her ex-fiance and others.

Wilson has called those claims “categorically false,” and Mace is facing a defamation suit over the accusations.

Some polling has pegged Mace as the front-runner, but indicates that many South Carolinians do not have their minds made up yet. A Targoz Market Research poll, for example, found Mace with a slight lead, but also found over half of GOP primary voters were undecided.

Looming over the race will likely be whether President Trump makes a formal endorsement. At the start of her tenure in Congress, Mace criticized Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, though she later voted against impeaching him.

This prompted Trump to endorse former Rep. Katie Arrington (R-SC) during the 2022 midterm elections.

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Last year, Mace endorsed Trump over her former home state Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary. Notably, her fellow congressional foe, Norman, backed Haley and was the only sitting House Republican besides Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) to do so.