By Mike McCombs
Representative Nancy Mace will host a town hall event Thursday night, Feb. 22 in Port Royal.
Mace, a Republican, is scheduled to meet and speak to the public from 6 to 7 p.m. at ShellRing Ale Works at 1111 11th Street.
Mace, the first female graduate of The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets, was elected to serve South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2020, defeating incumbent Democrat Joe Cunningham. She won a re-election campaign in 2022 against Democratic challenger Dr. Annie Andrews, a Charleston-area pediatrician, after beating Donald Trump-endorsed Katie Arrington in the GOP Primary.
In the 2024 election, Mace faces opposition from both parties, including four Republican challengers.
Mount Pleasant Republican Catherine Templeton announced her candidacy earlier this month. She was appointed director of the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation in December 2010, and then the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) chief in 2012, both under Gov. Nikki Haley. She ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.
In January, in a rare move, Mace’s former chief-of-staff Dan Hanlon filed to run for her seat. His filing came as several media outlets published stories citing strife and high turnover in Mace’s congressional office. Hanlon worked in the Office of Management and Budget during the Trump administration and was a staff member of former Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.).
Also running is Austin Anderson – he announced his candidacy back in February 2023. He’s a 27-year-old Uber driver who calls himself a “gay, anti-establishment Republican,” according to the Island Packet.
Bill Young has filed to run for the seat, as well.
On the Democratic side, there are two candidates – Charleston attorney Mac Deford, a Coast Guard veteran and graduate of The Citadel, and businessman Michael B. Moore, the great-great grandson of Beaufort’s Robert Smalls.
The S.C. Republican and Democratic primaries will be held on Tuesday, June 11, 2024.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
