Rep. Nancy Mace has won her primary battle against former President Donald Trump’s pick, Katie Arrington, according to an Associated Press (AP) projection.
Although Mace is the incumbent Republican in South Carolina’s first congressional district, she suffered Trump’s criticism after promoting the Democrat narrative that the former president was responsible for the January 6 Capitol riots. Mace also voted to certify the 2020 election, despite Trump’s plea to Republican lawmakers to object to the election’s certification.
Days before the election, Trump urged South Carolina voters to elect Arrington: “a wonderful person is running against the terrible Nancy Mace, who really let us down.”
Although Trump endorsed Arrington, Mace campaigned as a proponent of Trump’s policies. One day after Trump made his pick, Mace made a video of herself appearing before Trump Tower in New York, touting herself as an early Trump supporter.
Mace was confident that she would win without Trump’s support, telling the Slate in February, “I’m gonna win without him.” Mace also earned the support of two former Trump administration officials, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
Shortly after the race was called, Arrington conceded to Mace, according to local ABC news.
Trump congratulated Mace on her victory in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “Katie Arrington was a long shot but ran a great race and way over performed. Congrats to Nancy Mace, who should easily be able to defeat her Democrat opponent,” Trump posted.
Mace is now set to face Democrat challenger Annie Andrews in November, a race she is expected to win after redistricting made her district more conservative.