South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace won a hotly contested Republican primary on Tuesday, fending off a challenger backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Mace defeated attorney Catherine Templeton in the Charleston-based 1st District, the Associated Press projected, meeting the majority threshold needed to avoid a runoff. With 41% of the vote, Mace led Templeton 57% to 29%, while Navy veteran Bill Young got 14%.
Mace’s role as one of eight House Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy as speaker of the House in October loomed large in the race. She faced millions of dollars in advertising spending from outside groups aligned with the former California congressman, and Templeton, who received financial support from McCarthy’s leadership PAC, said Mace’s vote was what pushed her to enter the race .
But Donald Trump’s endorsement gave Mace a boost despite his mixed history with the presumptive Republican nominee. Mace was an ardent supporter of Trump in the 2024 presidential primary after calling on the Republican Party to abandon him following the Jan. 6, 2021 Captiol riot and after defeating a primary challenger backed by the former president in 2022.
Mace also outperformed Templeton and received support on the airwaves from the conservative Club for Growth Action.
Mace was looking for a decisive victory, telling NBC News over the weekend, “I want to win more than ever on Tuesday night because I want to send a message to Washington that voters don’t care about D.C.” Signs “60-40”, signaling his desire for a large margin that would avoid a second round.
Templeton, who previously served as then-Gov. Labor Secretary Nikki Haley rejected McCarthy’s influence in the race.
“No one is paying attention to Kevin McCarthy in low-lying South Carolina,” Templeton recently told NBC News.
McCarthy’s revenge campaign against Republicans who voted to remove him as speaker of the House will continue this summer. Its affiliated groups have also spent money against Republican Reps. Bob Good of Virginia and Eli Crane of Arizona ahead of their primaries in the coming weeks. And McCarthy’s chief agitator, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, also faces a primary challenger.
In South Carolina’s 4th District, Republican Rep. William Timmons also faces a hotly contested primary against state Rep. Adam Morgan, who chairs the Freedom Caucus in the Legislature. Morgan has the support of some of Timmons’ hard-line colleagues in the House, turning the race into a proxy fight over internal divisions in the Republican conference. Trump supported Timmons in the primary.
Elsewhere in South Carolina, pastor Mark Burns and nurse Sheri Biggs are heading into the Republican Party primary runoffs in two weeks in the race to replace retiring Rep. Jeff Duncan.
Burns, who self-financed his campaign, had Trump’s support in the race. Trump too appeared in a TV advertisement for Burns was reportedly filmed on the night of April 19 at Trump Tower in New York City, the same day Trump was in court for his silent trial.
Biggs, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, also partially self-financed his campaign.
The winner of the June 25 runoff is expected to win the deep-red 3rd District in November.
Big Senate race takes place in Nevada
Outside of South Carolina, Nevada, North Dakota and Maine also held primaries on Tuesday. And Trump has intervened in many major disputes.
Army veteran Sam Brown won the Republican primary for Senate in Nevada, NBC News projected, setting up one of the most important races of the year against Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen.
Brown, who suffered catastrophic burns in an explosion during his service in Afghanistan, was the establishment favorite in the race against Jeff Gunter, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Iceland.
Brown’s candidacy is something of a role reversal from 2022, when he ran unsuccessfully to the right of former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, the establishment’s choice in that Senate race. This time, Brown was supported by Trump, who endorsed him days before the election in a state that normally votes heavily by mail.
Trump also put his thumb on the scale in Nevada’s 4th District, supporting former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee in the race to face Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford.
In North Dakota, Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong won his party’s gubernatorial primary, making him the clear favorite to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Burgum. Armstrong’s victory is yet another victory for Trump, who supported his candidacy against Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller. Burgum, a potential Trump running mate, endorsed Miller.
Armstrong will face Democratic state Sen. Merrill Piepkorn in the fall in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since the 1988 elections.
Armstrong’s candidacy for governor meant he could not run for re-election, creating an open primary for his seat. North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, backed by Trump and Burgum, won the Republican Party nomination in the state’s general election district, the AP projected.
In Maine’s 2nd District, Trump-backed state Rep. Austin Theriault won the Republican primary, the AP projected. Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, will face Rep. Jared Golden, a top Republican target as one of five Democrats running for re-election in a district Trump carried in 2020.
In addition to Tuesday’s primary contests, voters in Ohio’s 6th District chose a new member of Congress to replace former Republican Rep. Bill Johnson, who resigned in January.
Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli won the special election in the district over Democrat Michael Kripchak and will serve out the remainder of Johnson’s term, NBC News projected. Once he takes office, Republicans will have 219 members in the House, giving them a little more comfort in the closely divided chamber.
Rulli underperformed compared to previous Republicans in the low-turnout special election, winning 55% of the vote to Kripchak’s 45%. Trump carried the district 64% to 35% in 2020, according to calculations by Kos Daily Elections. And Johnson was re-elected in 2022 by 68% to 32%.
Polls close at 7pm ET in South Carolina, 7:30pm ET in Ohio, 8pm ET in Maine, 9pm ET in North Dakota, and 10pm ET in Nevada.
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