COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Republican U.
S. Rep. Nancy Mace is trying to cement her hold on her seat in a state that doesn't mind sending people back to Congress for decades.
There have been questions over whether Mace’s attention-seeking personality and brashness and willingness to buck her party's establishment could be a liability. But so far she has been embraced by her coastal 1st District. Mace flipped the seat back to Republicans in 2020 after a stunning upset of incumbent Democratic Rep.
Joe Cunningham. She fought off a GOP challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump in 2022 and breezed to a surprisingly easy win — this time with Trump's backing — in the 2024 Republican primary without a runoff. Her fellow Republicans in the South Carolina General Assembly also did her a favor by redrawing the district and sending traditional Democratic precincts in and around downtown Charleston to the state's only majority-minority district.
Under the old map in 2020, Mace won less than 51% of the vote. With the new maps in 2022 she received more than 56%. Mace's Democratic challenger as voting ends Tuesday is businessman and former International African American Museum CEO Michael Moore.
His campaign has struggled to gain momentum and Mace has barely acknowledged he is in the race. Moore said Mace is more concerned with national attention and pet causes like legalizing marijuana than helping out people in her district. She joined seven hard-right Republica.