Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is facing a tough primary challenge on Tuesday, making her the first of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to fight for her reelection while the former GOP leader actively works against her.
Mace will compete against Catherine Templeton for the GOP nomination for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District. The race has garnered widespread attention as Mace has faced opposition from some members of her own party, including McCarthy, who has set out on a revenge tour of sorts against the hard-line conservatives responsible for his ouster.
While McCarthy has not explicitly endorsed Mace’s challenger, he has gotten involved with raising money for Templeton’s campaign to boost her candidacy. Those efforts have prompted Mace to hit out against McCarthy, accusing the former speaker of tearing apart the Republican Party by getting involved with primary races.
“Kevin McCarthy has called donors of mine and asked them directly to donate to my opponent Catherine Templeton,” Mace said during a Post and Courier event last month. “That is what he’s doing. I’m not the only person that he’s targeting. There are eight of us, and it’s sickening to see how much money he’s spending behind all these lies.”
Mace is the first of the eight Republicans who booted McCarthy to face a primary this year. Five of the others — Reps. Bob Good (R-VA), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Eli Crane (R-AZ) — will face their own primaries later this year. The remaining two — Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) and Ken Buck (R-CO), who are not running for reelection and have already stepped down from office.
Mace is among the most vulnerable of McCarthy’s detractors in their primaries as the other five running for reelection are not facing tough challengers.
McCarthy has criticized Mace heading into the primary election, attacking the incumbent over her voting record and the recent turnover in her office.
“I just hope she gets the help to straighten out her life. I mean, she’s got a lot of challenges,” McCarthy told reporters in February. “No one will stay working for her. You can’t have somebody who just flips and flops based upon what TV station she gets put on. You want someone who’s willing to work, and so I hope she gets that kind of help.”
Templeton has seized on Mace’s vote to oust McCarthy, using it to accuse the South Carolina Republican of being disloyal to her party.
“It broke her fellowship with her other congressmen in such a way that they won’t support her in order to get things done for us,” Templeton said at the same Post and Courier event.
Templeton told reporters she had not spoken directly with McCarthy about ousting Mace but has asked the fundraising juggernaut to help raise money for her campaign.
Another vulnerable member who voted to oust McCarthy is Good, who is facing one of the most closely watched primaries in the 2024 cycle after attracting the ire of several of his GOP colleagues, with many going so far as to back the Freedom Caucus chairman’s challenger.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
That race has become even more competitive in recent weeks after former President Donald Trump endorsed his opponent, state Rep. John McGuire.
The challenges come even as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has implored lawmakers not to get involved with other members’ primaries, instead urging Republicans to project a sense of unity ahead of the 2024 election. Those calls have been ignored by some GOP members, especially those who have actively appeared at campaign events to boost outside candidates.