COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is seeking a third term with the support of someone who tried to prevent her from getting a second term: former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s support after he called her crazy and terrible in 2022 is just one of many ways Mace has been in the spotlight much more than a typical second-term member of Congress.
She regularly appears in interview programs, where she often antagonizes the presenters. She is calling on her party to moderate on abortion and marijuana issues, but joined some of its most right-wing members to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Mace has said that her views and beliefs are not whimsical; it merely reflects the values of the 1st District, which stretches from the century-old neighborhoods of Charleston along the coast to the thriving, newly built neighborhoods of Beaufort County with retirees moving from there to South Carolina. elsewhere.
Mace has two Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Her main rival, Catherine Templeton, led the South Carolina Health and Environment Organization to some scares a decade ago, finishing third in her only political race in the 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary won by Gov. Henry McMaster.
Templeton states that Mace is nowhere, because he seems to land everywhere. Templeton promises to be a more reliable Republican voice in the U.S. House of Representatives.
There is a third Republican in the race. Navy veteran and financial planner Bill Young has also been campaigning hard and the race could easily end in a two-week run-off sprint on June 25. Candidates must receive a majority of votes to win Tuesday’s primaries outright.
Democrats also have a primary in the 1st District. Businessman and former CEO of the International African American Museum Michael Moore faces Mac Deford, a Citadel graduate and attorney for some of the neighborhood’s larger bedroom communities.
South Carolina lawmakers made the district more Republican after flipping the seat for one term in 2018. The 1st District was the only congressional district that Trump’s Nikki Haley won during South Carolina’s 2024 Republican presidential primary.
4th arrondissement
South Carolina’s other U.S. House member in a primary reelection battle is Republican Rep. William Timmons in the 4th District, anchored by Greenville and Spartanburg.
Timmons’ divorce — and a widely shared Instagram post from a husband who said Timmons was having an affair with his wife — have complicated his re-election bid. Timmons has denied the allegations and asked for privacy.
Timmon’s challenger in his quest for a fourth term is South Carolina Rep. Adam Morgan, who heads the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative lawmakers in state government. He’s coming from the right behind Timmons, saying he’s not conservative enough to be a real Republican.
Trump endorsed Timmons. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who helped launch McCarthy as House speaker, has boosted Morgan’s campaign through social media.
3rd District
South Carolina’s 3rd District is wide open after Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan decided not to run again after seven terms. Duncan’s wife of 35 years filed for divorce in 2023 and accused him of several things.
There are seven Republicans in the race and no real frontrunner. The district in the northwest corner of the state contains several small population centers.
Gov. McMaster endorsed longtime friend and nurse Sheri Biggs in her first run for political office. Trump’s endorsement went to Mark Burns, a black pastor who has supported Trump since before his first race for president.
The other candidates are Kevin Bishop, who worked for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for more than 25 years; Stewart Jones, who served five years in the South Carolina House and is the only candidate with political experience; Franky Franco, a businessman and the son of a Cuban exile and an immigrant from Ecuador; Phil Healy, who served in the U.S. Navy for 23 years; and Elspeth Snow Murday, a political newcomer who researches the genes of crops.
The Democratic primary in the 3rd District is between science teacher Frances Guldner and Byron Best, who manages a Sherwin Williams paint store in Greenwood.
Other breeds
The only other incumbent president of the U.S. House of Representatives facing a primary challenger is Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, who is seeking a 12th full term in the 2nd District, which stretches from the suburbs surrounding Columbia in the west and south toward Aiken.
His opponent is Hamp Redmond, a contractor who said he decided to run because of Wilson’s “Ukraine first” policy.
Attorney Duke Buckner is running against welder Justin Scott in the Republican primary in the 6th District. The winner will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is seeking a 17th term in the state’s majority-minority district bordered by the areas around Charleston, Beaufort and Columbia.
In the 7th District Democratic primary, teacher Mal Hyman, who calls himself an independent Democrat, faces Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom veteran Daryl Scott. The winner will face Republican U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who is seeking a second term in the district that stretches from Myrtle Beach to Florence in the northeastern part of the state.
