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Despite the 2026 South Carolina governor’s race currently featuring no officially announced candidates, a veritable superfluity of political savagery is going down in connection to it – with some of the barbs allegedly emanating from a powerful grudge-holder in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, a powerful legislative leader appears to have gotten cold feet regarding his top two self-identified “priorities” – while the blame game for a massive financial blunder has drawn a bead on another constitutional officer.
Sounds like intrigue from the court of Caligula, right? Nope, it’s just another week in the always-entertaining Palmetto political world… where the bloodsport never takes a day off.

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Every Monday morning, we publish the ‘FITSNews Political Stock Index‘ – which focuses on the latest developments on the national political scene. Each Tuesday morning, we publish this volume – the ‘Palmetto Political Stock Index’ – which focuses on politicos from our home state of South Carolina, host of the quadrennial “First in the Nation” (for Democrats) and “First in the South” (for Republicans) presidential primaries.
Got a hot “stock tip” for these indices? Email our founding editor Will Folks (here) and/or political columnist Mark Powell (here).
Where should you invest your Palmetto political capital this week? To the index…
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NANCY MACE
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STOCK: HOLDING
Whatever happened to foreplay?
Traditionally, this is the time of year when those seeking office position themselves to make a strong formal announcement of their entry into the race. First district congresswoman Nancy Mace has thrown that script out the window – and is playing by her own set of rules as she seeks to become South Carolina’s 118th governor.
And she’s directing all her firepower at the rival who’s currently standing in her way…
Withering… blistering… pointedly direct… pick any term you’d like because they all describe Mace’s assault on S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson. Polling shows the two are not only the front runners at this early stage of the GOP contest; they’re the only show in town. All other contenders are at 5% or below. Mace seems hellbent on taking out Wilson early as a result.
Beginning last weekend, Mace started dogging Wilson out on social media over the fight to protect women, visiting the S.C. National Guard, and even being the first to speak to a local GOP group —and all that was just Monday afternoon’s attack! Another broadside on X accused Wilson of coming late to the party on illegal immigration…
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“He has no business even thinking about running for governor.”@RepNancyMace is coming out swinging against S.C. gubernatorial competitor @AGAlanWilson@FITSNews pic.twitter.com/MkTMgAPJ5f
— Dylan Nolan (@dnolan2000) January 27, 2025
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By taking the fight directly to the other fellow in the arena — before she even tosses her hat into the ring — Mace is taking a calculated risk. Already a household name in much of the state, Mace has earned her reputation as ferocious campaigner (just ask Joe Cunningham, Katie Arrington, Annie Andrews and Catherine Templeton what it’s like to run against her).
But… is she making her move too early? Does she risk turning off Republicans who typically prefer their intra-party bloodshed in the closing weeks of a primary campaign? Or by establishing herself as a tenacious (even pugnacious) fighter coming out of the starting gate, is she molding herself in Donald Trump’s image?
We’ll have to wait another sixteen-and-a-half months to find out. But the way Mace is already swinging, they promise to be entertaining months, if nothing else.
Also, as she battles statewide Mace must keep one eye trained on Washington, D.C. – not only in her role as the elected representative for the fastest-growing region of the Palmetto State, but because Kevin McCarthy (the former speaker she helped oust) is apparently still gunning for her.
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ALAN WILSON
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STOCK: HOLDING
Absorbing Mace’s haymakers at the moment is South Carolina’s fourth-term top prosecutor, Alan Wilson.
Some of the things Mace claims about him have invited vigorous fact-checking.
“Late to visit the SC National Guard?” one source told us. “Wilson is a colonel in the National Guard, for Pete’s sake. And he was fighting the Obama administration in federal court over illegal immigration while Mace was a nobody trying to take out Lindsey Graham.”
Up to this point, Mace has scored only a few paper cuts on the veteran Palmetto politico. While a few such cuts aren’t lethal, one can eventually bleed to death from too many of them – which illustrates the tactical dilemma he currently faces. Mace’s astonishingly early all-out assault on Wilson is a classic case of the street fighter versus the prize fighter. Her initial attacks clearly have Wilson on the back foot, but unless those punches take him down early… expect him to rally ferociously.
Wilson is also adept at delivering – and absorbing – the sort of sustained body blows that, while not eliciting “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd, nonetheless keep him in the fight for the long haul.
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Had a great time speaking to the Beaufort County GOP last night! I shared how we’re working with President Trump to stop illegal immigration and crack down on the cartels, fighting for South Carolinians’ right to school choice, the SC human trafficking task force, and keeping… pic.twitter.com/B1ZCavC9cG
— Alan Wilson (@AGAlanWilson) January 28, 2025
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Wilson is regarded as a gentleman who has conducted himself above the fray in all of his political campaigns, including a rough and tumble primary and runoff cycle in 2010. But then again, that’s an eternity in politics… and he’s never faced an opponent who plays by her own rules the way Mace does.
Therein lies the danger for Wilson. If he follows the traditional playbook, he runs the risk of allowing Mace to define his candidacy in the public’s eyes. By waiting too long to jump into the fray, he could be painted into a political corner that’s not to his liking. But if he mixes it up with his rival too soon, both candidates run the risk of turning voters off with their attacks… creating a strategic opening for a third candidate to slide by both of them.
Let’s not forget the gender dynamic, either. While Mace is hitting hard right now, she’s never been the least bit hesitant to assert victim status if the situation requires it. Some have mocked her for being hypocritical on that front, but so far Mace has played those cards as well as can be expected.
Wilson could run the risk of looking like a “mean man” beating up on a woman. And how would that play with female voters? Wilson has done a credible job treading the very fine line between the GOP establishment and the party’s MAGA faithful. Can he display the same finesse in dispatching this early threat to his gubernatorial dreams?
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MURRELL SMITH
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STOCK: HOLDING
When South Carolina learned back in 2023 that it was a finalist for the Scout Motors plant being planned by über-woke Volkswagen, the powers that control our state wasted no time jumping on the EV bandwagon and vastly outbidding the “competition.”
A few phone calls from the governor’s office later and legislative leaders kicked things into overdrive. Twelve days after that, both houses of the General Assembly had passed a $1.3 billion incentive package and placed it on governor Henry McMaster’s desk.
But the supersonic-fast tracking of the deal created an unintended consequence that’s now biting the House head honcho on the butt. The blinding pace of the Scout Motors giveaway showed how very quickly lawmakers can spring into action on a “top priority.”
Fast forward to 2025. Why aren’t we seeing that same level of activity on behalf of the state’s taxpayers now? Especially after speaker Murrell Smith decreed tax reform the top priority heading into the new legislative session? Three weeks into that session, and what have we heard from House leadership on this supposed prime concern?
Crickets…
Same with school choice… which Smith and Senate president Thomas Alexander decreed last fall would be their “highest priority?”
Maybe it’s because Smith and his GOP establishment allies have been outflanked on the issue by separate proposals to scrap the state income tax from the S.C. Freedom Caucus and from state representative Justin Bamberg (a Democrat serving in a GOP “supermajority”).
Maybe he didn’t want to get ahead of a tax reduction proposal from McMaster, which turned out to be so laughably limp-wristed it felt like the equivalent of flipping a quarter to every Palmetto State citizen. Or maybe — and we’re just spitting-balling here — Smith doesn’t exert as much control over the GOP caucus as he thinks he does and is afraid of offending the pork-addicted members lurking in its midst.
Whatever the reason, this much is beyond dispute: The Good Lord created the Earth in six days. The Scout Motors goodie bag was passed in 12 days. We’re now 14 days since the ‘25 session began, and still no tax cut from Smith.
So much for priorities…
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TOM DAVIS
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STOCK: RISING
Politics is the study of power, they say. And the veteran lawmaker from Beaufort, South Carolina is putting on a masterclass in how to leverage the Palmetto State’s near-omnipotent legislative authority over another “power.”
Tom Davis was the driving force behind several recent whip-crackings which have made debt-ridden, government-owned boondoggle Santee Cooper actually run like a business for a change. This matters because, even if you don’t live in the Lowcountry, you have a vested interest in this historically mismanaged utility via the hundreds of millions of your tax dollars that keep getting shoveled into it.
Six years ago, amid fallout from a botched nuclear reactor project, Davis pushed for legislation that would require Santee Cooper to preserve the assets of the failed (and unfinished) V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, S.C.
With demand for power now skyrocketing – and the ability to generate it seriously curtailed by four years of Joe Biden‘s ‘Green New Deal’ – there’s fresh interest in completing the facility. Once again acting at Davis’ insistence, Santee Cooper is actively seeking requests for proposals to buy the site and everything on it.
If the sale goes through, the credit will be in large part due to Davis, who had the foresight in 2018 to plan ahead and the temerity in 2025 to hold the state-owned behemoth’s feet to the fire.
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CURTIS LOFTIS
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STOCK: HOLDING
Headhunters are on the warpath in the state capitol in Columbia these days. They’re looking for a(nother) fall guy to take the blame for a colossal accounting blunder.
Word came that $1.8 billion had mysteriously popped up in the state’s coffers. That caused visions of sugarplums to dance in the heads of spending-happy legislators and hopes of a tax cut or even—miracle of miracles — a tax refund in the minds of weary taxpayers.
Then reality came around and woke everyone up. Because it turned out the phantom money was just that — an apparition. A specter. According to a report commissioned by the governor, there was no surplus.
This supposition has launched an Olympic-scale blame game in Columbia, one eventually forcing state auditor George Kennedy III to hand in his resignation. But one head on a spike wasn’t enough to satisfy certain lawmakers who are hell-bent on exerting legislative control over the executive branch. They want to nail another scalp to the wall – namely the one attached to state treasurer Curtis Loftis’ head.
A willingness to ignore reality is at play among those demanding Loftis walk the plank. After all, the treasurer only cuts the state’s checks, while the comptroller general is supposed to keep its books. (Or at least do an accurate job of keeping them, which didn’t happen in this case).
Kennedy may have been easy pickings, but bringing down Loftis will prove a harder nut to crack. During his 14 years on the job, the treasurer has banked a considerable amount of goodwill with conservatives who view him kindly. Whether he continues in that office for the remainder of his term depends in large measure on how skillfully he rallies one faction to fight off the other.
He’s certainly made it clear he’s not going gently…
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