US Rep. Nancy Mace faces primary challenge in South Carolina after tumultuous term

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is seeking a third term with the backing of someone who tried to stop her from getting a second — former President Donald Trump.

The Trump endorsement after he called her crazy and terrible in 2022 is just one of many ways Mace has attracted a spotlight far greater than a typical second-term member of Congress.

She’s a regular on interview shows, often antagonizing the hosts. She calls for her party to moderate on abortion and marijuana but joined some of the farthest right members to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Mace has said her positions and beliefs aren’t erratic — she is just reflecting the values of the 1st District, which stretches from the centuries-old neighborhoods of Charleston down the coast to Beaufort County’s booming freshly built neighborhoods of retirees moving to South Carolina from somewhere else.

Mace has two Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Her chief rival, Catherine Templeton, ran South Carolina’s health and environmental agency to some angst a decade ago and in her only political race finished third in the 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary won by Gov. Henry McMaster.

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