Rep. Nancy Mace won the Republican primary for her House seat in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, fending off a challenger from within her own party, Decision Desk HQ projects.
Mace defeated Catherine Templeton, avoiding a runoff and bringing her campaign closer to securing another term in the lower house, even as she faced backlash from some members of her party.
The incumbent has long been the favorite to win reelection, but stiff competition from Templeton and a third Republican candidate on the ballot has made her path to the Republican Party less certain and raised the possibility of a runoff.
Mace had the advantage of having former President Trump’s endorsement, which came after she threw her support behind him even though she had criticized him in the past. Mace championed the change in his support, but his rivals in the House race it hit She got over it.
She has also faced broader backlash within the Republican Party over her vote to recall former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as well as allegations of reversals on key issues. Meanwhile, her office on Capitol Hill has seen high turnover.
Groups linked to McCarthy havebeen involved with effortsto elevate Templeton as the former speaker of the House, in league with Republican lawmakers who voted to remove him.
Mace will now face the winner of the Democratic primary in November, but the district is unlikely to leave Republican hands. The electorally deficient nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed the district in the “solid Republican” column last month.
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