Who is Nancy Mace? Lawmaker who loves ICE detention videos now wants to govern South Carolina

Rep. Nancy Mace (R) has officially thrown her hat in the ring for the South Carolina 2026 gubernatorial race to succeed term-limited incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster (R). Nancy Mace posted a video that concludes with a graphic that reads “Nancy Mace For Governor.”

“Do you like our X header?” she asked in a post on the social media site with the same image. “I’m running to put South Carolina first,” she said in a statement first obtained by Fox News.

“Something is broken in South Carolina. They said stay quiet, I spoke up. They said play nice, I fought back. They said sit down, and I stood up,” she said. “Corruption, chaos, cowardice — I’ve seen it all.”


“Get ready South Carolina. This isn’t just a campaign, this is a calling. You and me, this is where our mission begins. God’s not done with South Carolina and neither am I,” she added.

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With this announcement, she joins a growing list of Republican contenders, including lieutenant governor Pamela Evette, attorney general Alan Wilson, state Senator Josh Kimbrell, and Congressman Ralph Norman.

Recently, Nancy Mace claimed she cruises the web for videos of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents dragging people into custody, saying she “can think of nothing more American”.

“I have to tell you – one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube these days are … court hearings where illegals are in court and Ice shows up to drag them out of court and deport them,” the South Carolina representative said during an appearance on Sunday on Fox Report Weekend.

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Who is Nancy Mace?

The South Carolina rep previously served in the state house from 2018–2020, after unsuccessfully challenging Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) during his 2014 reelection bid. Born in 1977 in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, Nancy Mace attended Stratford High School.

Mace was dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and worked at a Waffle House before her life took a massive turn. She went on to become the first female graduate of The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets, breaking barriers at one of the country’s most rigorous military colleges.

In 2020, Mace defeated Democrat Joe Cunningham to become the first Republican woman elected to Congress from South Carolina. Before that, she served in the South Carolina General Assembly from 2018 to 2020.

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She grabbed headlines in February when she gave a highly speech on the US House floor accusing four men—including her former fiancé—of rape, physical abuse, and sexual misconduct. Mace said she was “going scorched earth” to “call out the cowards who think they can prey on women and get away with it,” providing in detail what she said the men did to her and other victims.

Mace, 47, has long positioned herself as a champion of the safety of women and children. She often shares the story of being molested at a swimming pool when she was 14 and raped when she was 16, leading her to drop out of high school, according to Time.

Once viewed as a political moderate, Rep. Nancy Mace has increasingly aligned herself with former President Donald Trump’s agenda—even after he was found liable for sexual abuse. She has emerged as one of the GOP’s most outspoken voices against transgender rights.

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In November, she introduced a controversial resolution aimed at banning transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol, a move prompted by the election of the first openly transgender woman to Congress. Since then, Mace has continued to promote anti-trans rhetoric on social media, frequently using language widely condemned as transphobic.

Once a skeptic of President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riots, Mace has since aligned herself with the president and embraced culture war rhetoric. If elected, she will likely put forward a range of conservative policies.