Nancy Mace is planning to run for South Carolina’s governor and she’s hoping her “great relationship” with Donald Trump will be a difference-maker.
The controversial congresswoman, who is an outspoken advocate of anti-trans policies, spilled her aspirations in an interview with the Associated Press, revealing that she is “seriously considering a statewide run for governor in 2026.”
“I’ve been in the state Legislature before, I have great relationships in Washington now, and I’ve acquired the leadership necessary to be bold, to make sure that we are moving forward with conservative policies,” she said. “I have made a difference in the work that I have done up here, and know that I could do even more at the state level.”
Since being elected to represent South Carolina in 2020, Mace has often grabbed headlines, although rarely because of her policy work.
Just three days into her Congress tenure, on Jan. 6, 2021, a mob of pro-Trump protestors stormed the Capitol. Rather than seeking shelter, Mace begged her staffers to let her “get punched in the face” for “media attention,” three former aides told the Daily Beast in January 2024.
More recently, she has been in the news for her successful push to ban an incoming transgender colleague from using the Capitol Hill bathroom corresponding to her gender identity. And last week, Mace stoked outcry when she seemed to challenge a Democratic rival to a physical fight on the House floor.
Mace has also emerged as one of the loudest pro-Trump voices in the House—a 180 after she disavowed him in the wake of Jan. 6.
She said she will ask for his endorsement for governor, and expects to get it.
“Trump is going to need people in governor seats in ’26,” Mace told the AP. “It’s not going to be an easy election cycle for us. In ’26, we need people who can win, win big, and implement his agenda, and I will do that. I’ve been doing it. I have a great relationship with him, and I will be asking him for his support statewide in South Carolina.”
In February 2022, Trump, apparently harboring a grudge over Mace’s Jan. 6 criticism, endorsed her primary opponent and called the congresswomen “an absolutely terrible candidate” who has been “disloyal” to the GOP.
A week later, Mace groveled for Trump’s forgiveness in a fawning Newsmax interview. It appeared to pay off, as he wound up endorsing Mace’s re-election bid in 2024, describing her as a “strong conservative voice.”
Mace said she hopes to make her final say on the governor run by the end of February. South Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Pamela Evette, and attorney general, Alan Wilson, are also among those considering running for governor.
