Republican Rep. Nancy Mace will be on her way out of public office come January after suffering a crushing loss in the GOP primary for South Carolina governor.
Mace was quick to admit it was a brutal defeat, which will wrap up what has been a rollercoaster ride for her in Washington, D.C., and on the campaign trail since she was first elected to Congress in 2021.
“Enjoying my first cup of coffee since getting my a-- kicked last night, and reading about how Dems nominated the guy with the nazi tattoo,” Mace wrote on X on Wednesday.
Her post was a dig at Democratic Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner, who won his primary on Tuesday despite his campaign being marred by multiple controversies, including a now-covered tattoo of a widely known Nazi symbol he got while serving in the Marines, and sexing revelations.
But when it came to her own race, Mace came up dramatically short of her goal in the primary, placing fifth in the GOP gubernatorial primary with just 12.1 percent.
Lt. Governor Pamela Evette and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson will both advance to the GOP runoff later this month after neither secured the necessary support to win the primary outright.
Mace did not even place in the top two in her home county that she’s been representing in Congress for nearly six years, trailing both Evette and Wilson with just 14.8 percent of the vote in Charleston.
Despite a tumultuous campaign where she lobbed a series of attacks on both Evette and Wilson, who she accused of slow-walking the investigation into her own sexual abuse allegations, Mace endorsed Wilson in the runoff.
The South Carolina congresswoman spent Wednesday morning trying to save face as she was roasted online.
“Headed back to the private sector at the end of this term, as the Founders intended,” she also wrote. “When I ran in 2020 I said I’d only serve 3 terms and my time is up. It’s truly been an immense honor and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”
When Mace first ran for Congress, she campaigned as a moderate and criticized President Donald Trump for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. But as her district was drawn to be more conservative, she took a MAGA turn and attempted to align herself with the president.
On Capitol Hill in recent years, she’s clashed with a series of Republicans and Democrats alike, but she waged one of her most personal attacks on Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress.
Mace waged a nasty campaign to block the Delaware representative from being able to use the women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill after she was elected.
But it appears McBride, who kept her head high throughout the South Carolina congresswoman’s repeated attacks, appeared to have the last word when it came to Mace’s defeat on Tuesday.
McBride was speaking at a Pride Month event when she acknowledged the South Carolina primary results as they were flooding in Tuesday night.
“My colleague and Congress’s top bathroom sheriff Nancy Mace is on the ballot, and while not all of the votes have been counted yet, she is in a respectful fifth place,” McBride said with a smile.
McBride also reacted to Mace placing fifth in a post on X, where she offered “thoughts and prayers.”
