Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is running for governor in South Carolina, she announced Monday.
Mace’s declaration comes after months of speculation, sometimes emanating from herself, about whether she would run. She often openly wondered “if I were governor,” or suggested she may be “forced” to run.
The South Carolina Representative announced her decision at an her alma mater, The Citadel, in Charleston. Mace answered a few questions posed by the Washington Examiner before the event.
“We’ve already accomplished so much for South Carolina, and I’m just getting started,” she said.
“In Congress, I passed landmark legislation protecting women from violent illegal aliens and secured the largest federal grant in South Carolina history at $195 million. I’ve challenged the establishment, held the line, and delivered results for South Carolina,” Mace added.
The South Carolina congresswoman said she would prioritize cutting the state’s income tax to 0% and “cut unnecessary animal cruelty.” Mace said she would fund her income tax plan “using a $1.9 billion surplus, a broadening of the sales tax base, and a Transition Reserve to protect our budget and credit rating.”
She said her plan would aim to make the state’s income tax 0% by 2031. As part of her animal cruelty plan, she’ll launch Violet’s law, which makes sure lab animals are adopted instead of euthanized.
Mace said she will seek President Donald Trump’s endorsement, “and no one in this race will work harder to earn it.” She touted Trump’s past support of her in an announcement video.
When asked who she will model herself as governor, Mace said while she isn’t looking to imitate anyone, she respects those “who shake up the system.”
“They don’t bow to the media. They don’t beg for approval,” she said. ” I’m here to fight for South Carolina. This state doesn’t need another follower in a suit and tie. It needs a fighter with grit, guts, and a real plan. And I’m ready to be the toughest, most unapologetic governor South Carolina has ever seen,” she added.
Mace said she isn’t afraid to “ruffle feathers” and has “no problem calling out what’s wrong, no matter what party you’re in.”
“When our top law enforcement officer, a Republican, is letting off pedophiles, I’m going to call it out. When a Democrat sheriff turns Charleston County into a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, I’m going to expose her. This isn’t about party lines, it’s about protecting our people and fixing what’s broken. And if that ruffles feathers in both parties? Good. I’m not here to play nice. I’m here to hold the line,” she concluded.
Mace’s inclusion in the field to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) makes the state’s Republican primary even more competitive. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) declared his candidacy last month, while Lt. Gov Pam Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson joined within the last few months as well.
The conservative firebrand had been aggressively spearing Evette and Wilson in public comments since the beginning of 2025. She frequently suggests Wilson “protects pedophiles” while calling Evette a “nice lady” but insufficient as McMaster’s understudy.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Evette’s campaign slammed Mace for her past opposition to Trump while touting Evette’s experience.
“Yawn… Another day, another career politician running for Governor who has a history of betraying President Trump, attacking Henry McMaster, and sabotaging conservatives when it matters most,” Evette campaign communications director Matthew Goins told the Washington Examiner.
“In the meantime, Pamela Evette is focused on doing what she’s always done — using her real-world experience to deliver actual conservative results for South Carolina,” he added.
When Mace was asked about her two opponents, she particularly focused on Wilson and did not address Evette. She accused Wilson of letting a child molester walk.
“He let Donald Gresh, a man caught with thousands of images and videos of toddlers, as young as three years old, walk with one day in jail. Five of six indictments dropped. Sixty years down to one day. That’s unforgivable,” she said.
“I’m not here to play the game, I’m here to hold the line. South Carolina needs a Governor who will fight for our families, protect our kids, and take on the system that’s failed us. I’m that fighter. I’m Trump in heels. And I will put South Carolina First,” Mace added.
The South Carolina Republican first came to popularity when she won her House seat in 2020 over incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), who represented the state’s first congressional district.
Coming in as a freshman Republican, Mace disagreed with President Donald Trump at times, and backed LGBT rights and had been more friendly to abortion and female reproductive rights than other Republicans early in her congressional career.
But then Trump yanked his endorsement of her in 2022 after what he viewed as disloyalty following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Mace once said she held Trump “accountable” to the riot. The South Carolina congresswoman would later move to endorse Trump herself in early 2024 with the president again endorsing her a few months later.
Mace has been more vocal on the transgender social issue over the last year, introducing a bill to ban identifying biological males from using designated facilities on federal property in an apparent response to the election of transgender Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE). An uproar ensued, and Mace continued to speak out on the matter.
“I’m not going to stand for a man, you know, someone with a penis, in the women’s locker room,” she said.
In April 2025, she verbally fought with a transgender person for using the word “tranny.” She then asked the person if the term was “derogatory to you,” before later repeating the word three times.
The incident is one of many in early 2025 that saw Mace grab headlines. She shared a naked photo of herself in May 2025 that she said was taken without her consent. Mace has alleged that several men, including her ex-fiance, are guilty of sexual misconduct.
Most recently, Mace said publicly that one of her “favorite things to watch on YouTube these days are … court hearings where illegals are in court and ICE shows up to drag them out of court and deport them.”
The comment closely follows her gubernatorial announcement in South Carolina.
A South Carolina policy poll showed voters are mostly undecided who they’ll back in the Republican primary. Mace leads the field with 16% support, Wilson at 15%, Evette at 8%, and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who is also running, at 3%. 52% of Republican primary voters remain undecided.
The Democratic field is also unclear. The same poll saw state Rep. Jermaine Johnson receive 5%, while state Sen. Jeffrey Graham also received 5% support with a smattering of other candidates under 2% and more than three quarters of voters undecided.
Only two out of the last seven governors in South Carolina have been Democrats with three straight Republicans since 2003. The Cook Political Report rates the race “Solid Republican.”
NANCY MACE DEPLOYED BURNER ACCOUNTS TO COUNTER ONLINE CRITICISM, STAFFERS CLAIM
A quirk of the South Carolina primaries, of which the Republican field looks most competitive, is that a candidate must get a majority of the votes cast to win. If not, the top two candidates go to a runoff. A vote-splitting scenario between Mace, Evette and Wilson could set up a potential run-off if voters’ can’t make a decisive choice.
The Republican and Democratic primaries won’t be until 2026, with the general election in November.