Nancy Mace’s bid for the South Carolina governorship is rattling allies of President Donald Trump, with the congresswoman polling within striking distance of the field despite a string of high-profile clashes with the White House over the Epstein files and the war in Iran.
The Republican congresswoman is polling at 18% in the June 9 Republican primary, just one point behind Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and ahead of both Attorney General Alan Wilson and Rep. Ralph Norman. With fewer than six weeks remaining before South Carolina Republicans pick their nominee, the race to succeed term-limited incumbent Henry McMaster remains wide open and increasingly unpredictable.
One scenario keeping the president’s strategists particularly concerned is that no candidate will clear the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff. If that happens, the nomination goes to a two-week contest between the top two finishers. The scenario that would alarm the White House most is a Mace versus Norman runoff, given both candidates’ records of crossing Trump at key moments.
A source close to the White House told Axios that Mace and Norman sabotaged Trump when it mattered most and said their reward should not be the governor’s mansion. People close to the president also do not want Mace in a gubernatorial role for a longer-term strategic reason: South Carolina holds an early position on the 2028 presidential primary calendar, and the governor’s mansion is a powerful platform from which to influence that contest.
Mace has accumulated a list of grievances with the administration. She pushed hard for the release of the Epstein files, teaming up with Rep. Thomas Massie to press the issue and reportedly rebuffing direct White House efforts to pull her back from the cause. In March, she publicly walked out of a House Armed Services Committee briefing on Iran and posted on social media that she would not support boots on the ground in the country. She also said she would most likely vote for a resolution to curtail presidential war powers on Iran the next time it came to the floor, though she ultimately did not do so when it came to a vote.
Despite the friction, Trump has not endorsed any candidate in the race. He recognises the political arithmetic too well to make a hasty move. Republicans control the House by a margin so slim that alienating Mace or Norman before their terms end could cost him crucial votes on legislation. Rumours also persist that Trump made a private commitment to stay out of the South Carolina governor’s race in order to secure last-minute congressional support for his One Big Beautiful Bill last summer.
Evette is considered by many operatives to be the candidate best positioned to receive the president’s nod when and if it comes. She raised more than $1 million for Trump’s 2024 campaign, has several members of the president’s political team advising her campaign, and carries the endorsement of outgoing Governor Henry McMaster, a longtime Trump loyalist who has been privately lobbying the president to back her. Evette’s campaign has also been running online advertising that includes a brief soundbite of Trump calling her by name at an event, a move critics say implies a presidential blessing that has not officially been granted.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump golfing partner, has been advising the president to stay on the sidelines of the primary race for now, at least until the field narrows. McMaster has reportedly offered similar counsel, suggesting patience given the runoff structure.
Norman, meanwhile, brings his own baggage. He endorsed former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley during her 2024 presidential bid and called for new leadership in the Republican Party at the time, a move that has not been forgotten in MAGA circles. Haley has returned the favour, endorsing Norman in the governor’s race, a dynamic that further complicates any White House calculation.
Mace has pushed back sharply on reporting that Trump’s inner circle fears her rise. A senior adviser told Axios that the only people worried about a Mace governorship are consultants planting the story because they know the Trump endorsement is not coming for their candidate. Mace herself has said publicly that the only endorsement she cares about in this race is Trump’s, while making clear she is not sitting idle waiting for it.
She has no campaign manager and a donor base that skews heavily out of state, but her social media operation is relentless. Her pitch to South Carolina voters centres on cutting the state income tax, improving infrastructure, and strengthening law and order.
On the legislative front, Mace also introduced the American Family Cost-of-Living Relief Act of 2026 this week, a bill requiring federal agencies to publish a household cost impact analysis before any new regulation can take effect. Under the proposal, if a rule is projected to substantially increase household costs, it cannot go into effect unless mandated by law or certified as a national security necessity.
With the June 9 primary closing in and Trump’s endorsement still unclaimed, South Carolina’s governor race is shaping up as one of the most consequential Republican contests of the 2026 cycle.
Ewan is a reporter at the Foreign Policy Journal, primarily covering US current affairs and news related to NYSE-listed stocks. He has over two decades of experience in journalism and digital publishing.
