Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) speaks to reporters as she leaves the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 27, 2023, in Washington, DC. (File/Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA — U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace advances to the November election after easily defeating Catherine Templeton, a former director of two state agencies, and longshot candidate Bill Young in the GOP primary.
The Associated Press called the race at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, with less than 30% of the vote counted.
Mace, who’s seeking her third term, had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump this time — two years after he endorsed her GOP challenger. But Templeton, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, campaigned to the right of Mace.
With relatively minor differences in policy, the two sparred over past votes, conduct in office, and, in an extensive-back-and forth, over Templeton’s role in a 13-year-old state immigration law.
Despite never serving in the state Legislature, Templeton claimed credit for the final form of the 2011 immigration law from her time serving as head of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. After Templeton aired an advertisement claiming about the law, Mace’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to the stations that aired it.
Although rated as one of the top 10% most bipartisan legislators in the House, Mace has not always stuck with the center of her own party. Last fall, she joined the hard right flank of the House GOP to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy’s political action committee gave Templeton $10,000 in April, and other organizations affiliated with the former speaker have spent large amounts of money on Templeton’s challenge.
In the week before the primary, Mace caught national press attention for being one of the top users of a new reimbursement program for House members. On Saturday, the New York Times reported that the House Ethics Committee will look into Mace’s spending under the program.
Templeton faced a challenge from within her own family. In April, Templeton’s 18-year-old son, Hampton, was arrested for first-degree assault, accused of beating up a classmate outside a party in January. It was his second arrest in seven months, though a road rage incident in September was dropped, according to reporting by The Post and Courier.
Templeton received the backing of Speaker Newt Gingrich from neighboring Georgia, who won South Carolina’s GOP presidential primary in 2012. She was also endorsed by U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, who represents South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District.
Beside Trump’s endorsement, Mace also picked up the endorsement of Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
The 1st Congressional District centers on Charleston and runs along the state’s southern coast.
The Democratic primary between Michael B. Moore and Mac Deford has not yet been called.
2nd District
Wilson, first elected in a 2001 special election, cruised to a win Tuesday against a largely unknown GOP challenger, Hamp Redmond of Swansea. In November, Wilson will face David Robinson II, who defeated Daniel Shrief in the Democratic primary.
Both the Republican and Democratic races were called at 8:15 p.m. by The AP.
The 2nd Congressional District stretches from Aiken and Barnwell counties at the Georgia border to northern Richland County.
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