Nancy Mace Finishes Fifth in South Carolina GOP Governor Primary

South Carolina Republicans delivered a decisive rebuke to Representative Nancy Mace in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary, relegating the once-prominent congresswoman to a distant fifth place with just 12.1 percent of the vote. Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, who secured the late endorsement of President Donald Trump, and Attorney General Alan Wilson advanced to the June 23 runoff with 28.9 percent and 26.2 percent respectively. The outcome underscored how alignment with Trump remains the decisive currency in the state's GOP contests, even for candidates who have repeatedly reshaped their public positions to chase that favor.

Mace conceded the race on social media and pointed directly to her vote in favor of releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files as a key factor in alienating MAGA voters. "As a survivor, I chose to stand on principle and stand against the Epstein cover-up," she wrote, adding that the decision apparently cost her the election. She also highlighted her efforts to expose names tied to a congressional sexual harassment fund and to challenge what she called abuses against children. Yet her framing came after years of political zigzags that left many observers questioning where genuine conviction ended and calculation began.

Mace first gained national attention as a moderate Republican who flipped a Charleston-area House seat in 2020. She supported codifying same-sex marriage, described herself as pro-transgender rights, and urged compromise on abortion. By the time she sought higher office, those stances had given way to repeated mockery of transgender people and disparagement of gay relationships on social media. Her relationship with Trump followed a similar pattern of reversal. After condemning him following the January 6 Capitol riot and surviving his 2022 effort to unseat her, she repositioned herself as a MAGA ally only to break with him again by pushing the Epstein document release. Trump responded by endorsing Evette days before the primary, bypassing Mace despite her overtures.

The primary field was crowded and lacked a clear frontrunner until Trump's intervention. Evette benefited from both the president's backing and that of term-limited Governor Henry McMaster. Mace's support collapsed even in her home county and congressional district, finishing behind not only Evette and Wilson but also state Senator Josh Kimbrell, Representative Ralph Norman, and businessman Rom Reddy. In her concession, she endorsed Wilson for the runoff, a move that appeared aimed at salvaging some influence within the party she had courted so assiduously.

Critics within South Carolina Republican circles described Mace's trajectory as emblematic of a broader pattern: talent for media attention paired with a willingness to shed allies and principles when politically expedient. Her defeat leaves the party's gubernatorial nomination to be settled between two candidates who avoided the kind of independent stands that Trump views as disloyalty. For voters who backed Mace's earlier image as a bridge-builder, the results illustrate how thoroughly that lane has closed inside today's GOP.