Shut the Door on Your Way Out, Nancy Mace

It’s dim, it’s distant, and it’s not really going to happen until 2027—but I can see the light… by which I mean a future without Nancy Mace in any kind of political office. Y’all! The future is bright.

The so-called “Trump in high heels” suffered a humiliating defeat in South Carolina’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, placing fifth in the race, with just 12.1% of the vote. Come January, she’ll be leaving her House seat behind—as well as the prospect of a four-year term as governor. Even better, the state’s District 1 could also be taken by another Nancy—that is, if the state bucks its 2020 and 2024 trends of voting red. And, well, I’m feeling pretty positive, so let’s keep the good vibes up.

thoughts and prayers https://t.co/NHCCE0DiI0

— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) June 10, 2026

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has been one of the more absurd characters to waltz through the lower chamber in recent years, launching herself into political moments and scandals that have ranged from bizarre to terrifying.

To recap the last 12 months alone: in July Mace said one of her “favorite things” to watch was people and their families being detained by ICE; in September she tried to punish Rep. Ilhan Omar (R-Minn.) for some nonexistent hate speech; shortly thereafter she suggested to pregnant women a drug with documented dangers for pregnant people; in October she reportedly screamed at TSA agents when they didn’t meet her with an immediate security detail at the airport; and last month, she proposed to update the Constitution and kick naturalized citizens out of Congress. During this 12-month period, at least two think pieces were published attempting to decipher her curious motivations (read: whatever the fuck was going on with her), revealing also that she would regularly get her staffers to upvote Reddit posts about her “attractiveness.” 

And, no, this window doesn’t cover the times she’s spent bullying her trans colleague, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Delaware), or how she distributed to her colleagues a nude image of herself to substantiate claims against her ex of rape (who’s since denied the claims); or how she called her constituents “ugly” and “evil” because she kept refusing them a town hall.

Mace’s campaign itself has also been mired in hectic episodes—i.e. when she yelled at a reporter for asking her a question—and for most of it, she’d been vying for Trump’s endorsement. She ultimately lost it to Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R), who was only endorsed a few weeks ago, and probably only because Mace had broken MAGA lines to push for the release of the Epstein files. Evette, along with the state Attorney General Alan Wilson (R), will be heading to a run-off election later this month for the Republican spot on the ticket. 

As for Mace’s seat, the future is unclear—though also competing in the run-offs for the Dem. nomination in June will be Nancy Lacore, former three-star admiral and Navy chief who was fired by Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth in 2025. It’s only up from here, South Carolina.