Mace endorses Wilson after losing South Carolina gubernatorial bid

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) endorsed South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) in the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial primary after she lost the initial primary Tuesday.

“I want you to know that I’m going to endorse Alan Wilson for governor,” Mace told supporters after polls closed.

“I want a law-and-order governor, and that law-and-order governor is going to be Alan Wilson,” she said. “And I not only think he’s going to win tonight, I think he’s going to mop the floor with [Republican Lt. Gov.] Pamela Evette, and I very much look forward to that.”

Evette, who received President Trump’s endorsement, and Wilson are projected to head into a June 23 runoff for South Carolina governor after no candidate won more than half of the vote outright in the GOP primary.

Mace had placed fifth in the primary, with more than 95 percent of the vote tallied as of 11:30 pm EDT per Decision Desk HQ. The congresswoman, who is a sexual assault survivor, acknowledged that her decision to press for the release of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s files from the Justice Department likely impacted her bid for governor.

Mace’s decision to back Wilson is notable given that she previously criticized South Carolina’s top prosecutor in the months leading up to the Republican primary. The House Republican suggested that, “if you’re a pedophile, you definitely want Alan Wilson to prosecute your case” in a statement from her congressional office, referencing a sex offender case in the state.

Wilson, speaking to supporters, thanked Mace for her endorsement and said the two had “buried our hatchet” more recently.

The congresswoman has been a rabblerouser in Congress. She made a name for herself in the House by bucking her party on hot-button issues like abortion. She later surprised colleagues when she was among a small handful of House Republicans to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in 2023.

She’s closely aligned herself with Trump but defied the odds earlier in her political career when she defeated a Trump-backed challenger in 2022 as she sought a second term in the lower chamber.

Mace bucked much of her party again earlier this year as she pushed for the Justice Department to release its Epstein files.

“I voted to release the Epstein files. NO REGRETS,” Mace wrote on social platform X late last month after Trump backed Evette.

“I demanded it because you deserved the truth – ALL OF IT – and as a survivor of a corrupt and broken court system, I will always pursue justice for those who deserve it,” Mace said. “If sacrificing my values is the price of an endorsement, I will never pay it.”