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This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.
It turns out you actually have to do things for your constituents to win elections. Who knew?
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, lost her bid to be the state’s governor in a closely watched primary election on June 9, coming in fifth with just over 12% of the vote. Fifth. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, and state Attorney General Alan Wilson will now head to a runoff.
The U.S. representative is blaming her loss on her participation in calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Mace was one of four Republicans who forced the Justice Department to release the files, something she claimed killed her chances of becoming South Carolina’s next governor.
“I voted to release the Epstein files and lost some support for that,” Mace said in her concession speech. “As a survivor, I chose to stand on principle and stand against the Epstein cover-up. I chose to stand against child rapists.”
While I appreciate Mace’s stance on behalf of victims of sexual abuse – something that hits close to home for her, as a survivor herself – to say that Trump’s endorsement of Evette was the sole reason she lost the race is shortsighted. Mace did nothing but cause chaos in the past few years, accomplishing nothing for the people of South Carolina while trying to tie herself to Trump.
Mace was not a bastion of public service. After flipping her district Republican in 2020, the representative did a hard pivot to the right in the years following, cozying up to Trump and calling the president a “father figure,” leading Politico to declare her “the most Donald Trump-like figure in American politics not named Donald Trump.”
Perhaps they have a point: Like Trump, Mace has failed her constituents over and over again while claiming that the real enemies are immigrants, trans people and the left.
In 2025, she refused to attend town halls for her constituents, saying on social media that the event had been organized by “left-wing extremists.” Mace went on to call her constituents “nasty” and “evil,” telling them that they were taking away from real people who have real needs.
Mace has also behaved in bizarre ways in recent years, undermining her authority as a member of Congress. In December 2024, she claimed she was “physically accosted” by a foster care advocate when the two shook hands. In October 2025, she called police officers at Charleston International Airport “(expletive) incompetent.”
Recently, she introduced two bills directly attacking immigrants: one that would only allow people born in the United States to hold elected office, and another that would require mandatory “assimilation” screenings for immigrants trying to live in the United States.
Her biggest gaffes, however, have come at the expense of trans women. Mace has repeatedly gone after trans people in the past few years, referring to them using transphobic slurs and trying to pass a federal bathroom bill that would require people to use the facilities that align with their assigned sex at birth.
Needless to say, she’s someone who has mastered making headlines for her actions, as opposed to any of the things she has done for South Carolina residents.
Mace’s singular bright spot in an otherwise dismal legacy is what she was able to accomplish with the Epstein files. For doing the bare minimum and trying to hold abusers accountable, she should be praised. Yet what she accomplished in that singular instance was outshone by all of her failures.
It’s not even about her connections to Trump; it’s about her desire for fame and power at the expense of the people she was elected to represent. It’s not surprising that she lost her Republican primary election – voters see through her offensive, flashy agenda and see that she has not done anything for the people she represents.
The South, my home, needs people who are willing to fight to make their everyday lives more affordable, while representing ALL of the people who live there – not just Republican voters with the most extreme beliefs. Mace should have focused on economic issues, affordable housing, and bringing jobs to South Carolina while shying away from attacking people who have a different lived experience from hers.
Thus ends Mace’s legacy as a spineless leader who was willing to cast off her moderate persona when it came time to kiss Trump’s ring – a move that got her nowhere.
Follow USA Today columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social.
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