By Andy Brack
The worst news of the week for South Carolinians was that media-craving GOP U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of Mount Pleasant is “seriously considering” running for governor in 2026.
If this political trial balloon were to become a reality, it would be a disaster for the Palmetto State.
Instead of people from outside of the state chiming old slogans like the classic “Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places” or the dull “Launch to Legacy” from 2024, Mace surely would insist upon a new slogan, “Look at me! Look at me!” Instead of Nikki Haley’s, “It’s a Great Day in South Carolina,” state employees surely would be asked to answer phones, “Hello from South Carolina where Nancy Mace is governor.”
And then there would be the narcissistic publicity stunts like she recently pulled in Washington to ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol or U.S. House office buildings. It was a clickbait way to get attention for what’s really a political nothing – a Seinfeldian ploy to get cameras turning her way for something that didn’t really matter (don’t women’s bathrooms have stalls and privacy doors?).
What you don’t hear in the Associated Press interview is why Mace, who early on made a name as the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, would even want to be governor – especially since the national media she so craves is in Washington, D.C. Perhaps it’s because she’s just one of 435 members of Congress and, as governor, she could be at the top of the state’s political heap.
But rather than talking about helping people, she talks about the mechanics of politics and whether she’ll get the support she needs from new President Donald Trump.
“We are seriously considering a statewide run for governor in 2026,” Mace said in a story published Wednesday.
Hmmm. The imperial “we.”
“I’ve acquired the leadership necessary to be bold, to make sure that we are moving forward with conservative policies. 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.”
Well, we are glad you think so much of yourself. But there’s more:
“But this is a time and a moment in history where we need strong leadership. And everyone I’ve heard of, every name I’ve heard, they’re all nice people, but they don’t have that ability to kick ass and take names and make some of the tough decisions that are going to be needed to move our state forward.”
Those mentioned as possible candidates include longtime, kind-of-dull S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who most people still really haven’t heard of.
So what you really have here is a viper who sees a chance to strike. You’d think that Mace would want to take on U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the state’s top Republican who has political issues with the uber-conservative MAGA base despite $15 million in campaign cash in the bank. But Mace ran for Senate once and failed miserably. She surely thinks running as a spark in a lackluster field suits her better – especially when she can come up with new and exciting stunts every day on the campaign trail.
For those of you not in South Carolina too long, we had a recent governor who made a name for himself with stunts – yep, Appalachian Trail-loving Mark Sanford. In one 2005 publicity blitz, he used a horse-drawn carriage outside the Statehouse to illustrate how state government needed to be brought into the modern age.
In another in 2004, he employed the use of two piglets, “Pork” and “Barrel,” to highlight the need to control unnecessary spending. How’d that work out? The pigs defecated on Sanford’s pretty blue jacket.
And that shows the value of manufactured stunts and outrage, which Mace has in buckets.
Mace’s name is perfect for political rhymes. Perhaps the best for 2026: No space at top for Mace.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to feedback@statehousereport.com.
