Mace beats Trump-endorsed GOP challenger in South Carolina

Freshman Rep. Nancy Mace defended her territory in a Republican primary Tuesday, beating Katie Arrington, a challenger supported by former President Donald Trump.

Mace was victorious in South Carolina’s 1st District despite some stumbles in Washington and her failure to secure the former president’s support. The first-term Republican has teetered back and forth between supporting Trump — including taping a supportive video outside Trump Tower soon after Trump endorsed against her — and fiercely criticizing him after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Trump has lambasted her as “nasty, disloyal, and bad for the Republican Party.”

With 85 percent of the expected vote reported, Mace led Arrington 53 to 45 percent.

The Mace-Arrington faceoff became a barometer of Trump’s clout in their state, as he wages war against members of his own party. The race also became somewhat of a proxy battle between Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who threw her support behind Mace and is, like her former boss, weighing a run in 2024.

Mace was seen as the favorite going into Tuesday’s race, and even some of those in Trump’s orbit expected her to come out on top. The swing district includes Charleston, where Biden won, but also includes deep red counties in the north and south.

Mace outpaced Arrington in fundraising by a wide margin, with $4.1 million to roughly $910,000. Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, headlined a fundraiser that brought in more than $300,000 for Mace, appeared in the lawmaker's TV ads and held multiple rallies in the final days of the race.

“The Lowcountry came out big for our congresswoman, Nancy Mace. Nancy has fought for us, now we need to continue to fight for her. Let’s unite, defend the First, and keep this seat red this November,” Haley said in a statement.

Mace’s downfall in Trumpworld came after she criticized the former president over the events of Jan. 6, despite her work with his 2016 campaign. She has since attempted to redeem herself, even after Trump endorsed Arrington, who also believes the 2020 election was rigged. In a video in front of Trump Tower, she cast herself as the only Republican who can defend the seat against Democrats — a dig at Arrington.

Arrington took down an incumbent once before, in 2018, when she defeated former Rep. Mark Sanford in a GOP primary with Trump’s endorsement. But Arrington later lost in the general election against Democrat Joe Cunningham amid the Democratic wave that year.