(Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
Nancy Mace, a first-term Republican from South Carolina’s first congressional district, is facing a primary challenge. Yesterday, Breitbart broke the news that Katie Arrington, who worked in the Pentagon during the Trump administration, will be challenging Mace for the GOP nomination in 2022.
Arrington was previously the Republican nominee for SC-1 in 2018, staging an upset by clinching Trump’s endorsement in the primary and besting former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford for the nomination. But after a car crash that took her off the campaign trail for months and relegated her to a wheelchair for much of the campaign, Arrington narrowly lost to her Democratic challenger, Joe Cunningham, in the general. Mace ousted Cunningham in 2020.
Arrington’s opening advertisement accused Mace of publicity-grabbing stunts: “Our founding fathers envisioned our leaders to be public servants and stewards of their community,” Arrington says in the video. “It was never about personal gain celebrity status or self-enrichment. It was supposed to be about the people you represent.” Arrington goes on to say that Mace “is more interested in becoming a mainstream media celebrity than fighting for the people she’s supposed to represent. Selfies with Carole Baskin, Monkey Island, legalizing marijuana. Why is she prioritizing that over the skyrocketing inflation, high gas prices and economic security for the Lowcountry? Is Nancy Mace high?”
Mace has been criticized by many in the pro-Trump wing of the GOP for appearing on left-leaning channels like CNN and MSNBC to criticize her fellow Republicans. As Arrington’s ad alluded to, she has also come under fire for a series of odd celebrity-seeking moves, including posing for photographs with Tiger King’s Carol Baskin. In an interview with the State newspaper yesterday, Arrington also criticized Mace for her condemnation of the January 6 riot and for failing to challenge the results of the 2020 election, which Arrington said Trump won. Mace, for her part, welcomed the challenge, tweeting “Bring. It. On.” thanking Arrington for being indirectly responsible for the fact that she held the seat, and saying that she looked “forward to earning the vote of everyone in the Lowcountry once again, and continuing to serve the 1st District” in her next term.
It remains to be seen how the 2022 GOP primary in SC-1 will play out. But the district may actually be more Republican than recent elections indicate. Cunningham’s narrow victory over Arrington in 2018 seemed to be an aberration in what was a bad year overall for Republicans, with Arrington’s injuries also limiting her ability to campaign. Mace’s victory over Cunningham in 2020 was likely only narrow due to Cunningham’s incumbent advantage and the fact that the South Carolina Democrat was one of the most moderate members of his party, both rhetorically and by voting record. But even though Mace edged out Cunningham by just over a point in 2020, SC-1 went for Trump by a healthy 6 points — down slightly more than one point since 2016.