The 2026 election season is already underway, it seems, and there are races worth watching besides those for control of the House and Senate – and South Carolina may be one of those interesting state-level contests. South Carolina’s 2026 gubernatorial election is open, as outgoing Governor Henry McMaster is term-limited. Now, the race for Governor of the Palmetto State has a new entrant, as Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) has taken to her X account to announce her candidacy.
Fox News, on Monday morning, also broke the story and gave some background on Rep. Mace:
Rep. Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican with a large national profile, on Monday declared her candidacy for Palmetto State governor.
“I’m running to put South Carolina first,” Mace, a three-term House member who represents a coastal congressional district in the state’s Lowcountry, said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital.
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.
The run for the nomination will be anything but a cakewalk:
Mace enters a crowded GOP primary field in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is the Palmetto State’s longest-serving governor.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell are all seeking the GOP nomination in the reliably red state. They were joined a week ago by Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, who declared his candidacy.
It’s shaping up to be a crowded field.
Read More: Nancy Mace Moves to Have LaMonica McIver Expelled From Congress
Watch: Nancy Mace Angers Trans Person Who Undergoes Weird Identity Shift Mid-Conversation
In the 2026 elections, any Republican candidate’s relationship with President Trump is likely to be a factor. Rep. Mace’s relationship with the president has been decidedly mixed, although we can expect the president to eventually support the South Carolina Republicans’ candidate for governor, whoever that may be.
Mace, who dropped out of high school at age 17, and worked at a Waffle House before eventually becoming the first female graduate of the Citadel’s Corps of Cadets, won election to Congress in 2020. She defeated Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham, to become the state’s first Republican woman elected to the House.
Mace, who worked on President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, strongly criticized his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when Trump supporters attempted to upend congressional certification of now-former President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Trump backed a primary challenger against Mace when she was up for re-election in 2022, but she successfully won re-nomination and re-election.
One survey taken before Rep. Mace’s announcement shows her holding a narrow lead in the primary race.
South Carolina’s 2026 primary election is, as of this writing, scheduled for June 9th, 2026.
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