First on Fox: Republican firebrand Nancy Mace launches bid for South Carolina governor

Accommodation Bahrain introduces

EXCLUSIVE - Rep. Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican with a large national profile, on Monday declared her candidacy for Palmetto State governor.

"I'm running to put South Carolina first," Mace, a three-term House member who represents a coastal congressional district in the state's Lowcountry, said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital.

Mace, as she launched her campaign, argued that "we can continue doing the things we've always done," as she took aim at what she called "weak leadership" in the state.

"Or we can chart a new course - one filled with common sense and bold policies to hold the line for South Carolina," she emphasized.

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS MEMBER RALPH NORMAN JUMPS INTO SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR'S RACE

And Mace went up on a newly launched campaign website with a 10-point agenda that she called "a clear, conservative, common sense roadmap to rebuild South Carolina from the ground up:"

Mace followed her announcement with a campaign policy event Monday morning in Charleston at the Citadel, which is South Carolina's public military college and her alma mater. 

"This morning I'm making it official," she told supporters. "I'm running for governor because South Carolina doesn't need another empty suit."

Mace enters a crowded GOP primary field in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is the Palmetto State's longest-serving governor.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell are all seeking the GOP nomination in the reliably red state. They were joined a week ago by Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, who declared his candidacy.

SOUTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY GENERAL ALAN WILSON LAUNCHES BID FOR GOVERNOR

Mace, in a recent interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her launch, said that "we're starting out front, in the lead, and it's a two-man race" between her and Wilson.

And she pledged that "I will fight to the finish, and I will take out South Carolina's Attorney General, because he's turned a blind eye on women and on children and on the state for a lot of reasons. He might force me to do this."

Mace, in a bombshell speech on the U.S. House floor in February, alleged that Wilson ignored evidence of sexual assault against her and other women. In her hour-long speech, Mace accused four men, including her ex-fiance, of sexual crimes and said she was among the victims.

Wilson vehemently denied Mace's accusations, saying at the time "that allegation was never made to me - no one in my office."

Wilson, in a statement to Fox News a week ago, argued that "Nancy Mace is a liar who will do anything to get attention to distract from her liberal voting record. I've served our country and dedicated my civilian career to protecting children."

"Her attacks are, again, categorically false and are just a distraction from her liberal agenda," he added. "South Carolina families need a Governor who will fight for our values, not someone who will compromise them for political gain and social media clicks."

And Wilson's campaign highlighted that every sheriff in Mace's congressional district has endorsed his campaign for governor.

Mace, who dropped out of high school at age 17, and worked at a Waffle House before eventually becoming the first female graduate of the Citadel's Corps of Cadets, won election to Congress in 2020. She defeated Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham, to become the state's first Republican woman elected to the House.

Mace, who worked on President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, strongly criticized his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when Trump supporters attempted to upend congressional certification of now-former President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election.

NANCY MACE ARGUES RUSSIAGATE A 'POLITICAL HIT JOB'

Trump backed a primary challenger against Mace when she was up for re-election in 2022, but she successfully won re-nomination and re-election.

Mace later came to Trump's defense after the then-former president was indicted for mishandling classified documents. And she endorsed Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, as he topped a large field of rivals, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Trump's grip over the GOP, thanks to his 2024 victory to win back the White House, is stronger than ever, and his endorsements in GOP nomination races are extremely influential.

Asked if she could land the president's endorsement, Mace told Fox News Digital, "I'll be working very hard if I get in to earn his support."

And in her campaign launch video, Mace uses a clip of Trump calling her a "fighter" in a speech, and adding that "when she sets her sight on something, she's tough."

Mace has leaned hard into cultural issues in recent years, including leading the charge to prevent Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, the first openly transgender member of Congress, from using the women's restrooms in the House.

And Mace, in her campaign launch, vowed to defend what she called "biological reality and stop the radical gender agenda."

"No child is born in the wrong body. No boy belongs in a girls' locker room. And no teenage girl should lose her scholarship to a boy in a skirt," she argued. "I've already started shutting down this woke ideology at South Carolina schools, and will do significantly more to gut this abusive ideology and ship it out of state."

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) criticized Mace as she launched her campaign.

"Nancy Mace is an extreme, self-serving politician whose entrance into this race will only accelerate the Republican gubernatorial candidates' race to the right. In Washington, Mace has worked to gut Medicaid and take away health care from millions, and she supports ending Social Security and Medicare as we know it. Now she wants to bring this extreme agenda to South Carolina," DGA spokesperson Kevin Donohoe charged in a statement to Fox News.