|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by WILL FOLKS
***
After a decade of status quo servitude (and suboptimal corresponding results), South Carolina is in desperate need of a change agent as its next governor. Citizens and taxpayers deserve a chief executive who is eager to wield the veto pen – and leverage the power of the bully pulpit – to achieve dramatically improved outcomes across the board.
Future governors must be willing to challenge the all-powerful S.C. General Assembly as they seek to enact long-overdue reforms – but they must also be willing to challenge individual lawmakers at the ballot box, if necessary.
Only then can the Palmetto State begin to address the myriad constitutional, statutory and bureaucratic deficiencies holding it back from achieving its full potential.
South Carolina has had a “Republican” legislative majority for a quarter century – and a GOP “supermajority” for the past two legislative sessions. Unfortunately, the redder the legislative branch has become – the less interested it has been in governing in a manner consistent with Republican principles.
Funny how that works, right?
***
As we approach the dawn of 2026, five GOP candidates are vying to succeed ten-year placeholder Henry McMaster as governor. As FITSNews has consistently noted, McMaster has been nothing but an “empty suit” over the past decade. The 78-year-old career politician from Columbia, S.C. has been a guffawing, grandstanding, glad-handing caricature obsessed with being governor – yet totally uninterested in doing any meaningful governing.
During his tenure in office, McMaster has taken a constitutionally neutered office and somehow managed to make it even weaker…
Of course, that’s exactly what this author said he would do. On the eve of his ascendancy to the governor’s office in 2016, I penned an editorial predicting that “McMaster will provide more of the same ’status quo’ GOP governance.”
Which he has…
At a time when South Carolina needed to make multiple leaps forward, McMaster has (at best) stood in place. At worst, the Palmetto State is further behind the eight ball than ever.
Of the five Republicans running to succeed him, though, which one best qualifies as the “change agent” the situation is so clearly calling for? Which gubernatorial contender has the stones to stand up to the legislature – and individual lawmakers – with the goal of fundamentally reorienting South Carolina’s results-challenged trajectory?
Is there even such a candidate currently in the field?
***
THE RISE AND FALL OF NANCY MACE…
***
Heading into this year, the smart money had the Palmetto State’s first district congresswoman Nancy Mace – who seized the frontrunner mantle via a series of blistering broadsides against S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson – emerging as 2026’s most likely “change agent.”
Even her enemies – most notably veteran S.C. political strategist Wesley Donehue – privately acknowledged Mace was likely to win the governor’s mansion in 2026.
Having rehabilitated herself with supporters of U.S. president Donald Trump, Mace not only had the inside track on a presidential endorsement – she had clearly proven herself ready and willing to buck the status quo in Washington, D.C. Moreover, her uncanny ability to drive narratives – and reinvent her own narrative – through aggressive earned media campaigning also portended big things as far as the effective use of the bully pulpit was concerned.
Mace was perfectly positioned to be the “change agent” South Carolina needed… until she wasn’t.
In February of this year, Mace went “scorched earth” against Wilson – a move which helped cement her status as frontrunner (but which also drove up her negatives amongst GOP primary voters). Along the way, Mace tried to tiptoe (not especially adeptly, as it turned out) the fine line between “change agent” and “chaos agent.”
What could have developed into a disciplined, sustained line of attack against her top political rival instead deteriorated into a hyper-personal, unhinged rolling rant – a multi-month public meltdown which daily blurred the lines between political criticism and personal animus (and repeatedly stretched the bounds of credulity and coherence).
***
RELATED | NANCY MACE’S LATEST ‘SPEAKER SAGA’
***
Mace’s candidacy quickly became the equivalent of a Breakfast Club purse dump – an open invitation to the entire state to pore through the minutia of her botched engagement to Charleston, S.C. entrepreneur Patrick Bryant. Thrown in the mix for good measure? Plenty of profane, conspiratorial allegations against Wilson and other “good ol’ boy” politicians allegedly responsible for the indignities she endured.
In the process of seeking to neutralize Wilson as a political rival, Mace embraced the perpetual victimhood culture of the far left – surrendering strength for shrillness, credibility for craziness.
Amazingly, it worked – at least to an extent. Mace’s skill at conflation – and some bad behavior by Bryant’s buddies – lent just enough credence to her allegations to keep the gambit going (even as the train driving the allegations was clearly derailing). Publicly, Mace’s status as the race’s frontrunner – and her potential to become the Palmetto State’s long-awaited “change agent” – remained intact.
Then came the day before Halloween…
***
CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND GAG ORDERS
Per incident reports first obtained by FITSNews, Mace was accused of profanely belligerent and demeaning behavior towards officers of the Charleston Regional Aviation Authority (CRAA) during an incident that took place on the morning of October 30, 2025.
“She repeatedly stated we were ‘fucking incompetent’ and that ‘this is no way to treat a fucking U.S. representative,’” the initial report (.pdf) from the officers claimed, insisting Mace told them they would never treat U.S. senator Tim Scott the same way.
Mace continued “cursing and complaining,” allegedly “continuing her tirade” for several minutes before eventually boarding her aircraft.
This alleged outburst – and its fallout – became a focal point for those eager to expose what they have long contended is Mace’s escalating detachment from reality.
Mace’s response to the incident – essentially another conspiratorial rant – made her critics’ point for them. Not only that, it kept the incident alive in the press long after it might have otherwise died out.
In the aftermath of the airport drama, Mace’s negatives amongst GOP primary voters skyrocketed – and her poll position vis-à-vis Wilson and the race’s other two major Republican contenders (lieutenant governor Pamela Evette and fifth district congressman Ralph Norman) imploded.
***
RELATED | NEW POLL SHOWS ALAN WILSON IN THE LEAD
***
So… is Mace finished?
As we noted in a recent post, some political pundits in South Carolina have “declare(d) her once high-flying candidacy kaput.” And make no mistake: Mace has dug a significant hole for herself.
In the span of the past eleven months, the 48-year-old Daniel Island, S.C. resident has gone from being the 2026 frontrunner to being on the back side of the middle tier – with her trend lines continuing to move in the wrong direction. There are reportedly other shoes yet to drop on Mace, too, which – depending on the ensuing reverberations – could complicate her ability to regain her political footing.
Still, it is far too early to count Mace out – especially if she manages to learn from her mistakes.
And learns to read the room…
“Her ability to spot and take advantage of issues GOP voters care about is unparalleled,” a GOP consultant unaffiliated with any 2026 gubernatorial candidate told us earlier this month. “She’s better at doing those things than anyone else in the race.”
Or at least she was…
Can Mace undo the damage she’s done? And (more importantly) can she avoid similar missteps in the future?
Helping her immensely has been a gag order issued in connection with several civil cases related to her and her ex-fiancé. Issued late last month by retired S.C. circuit court judge Donald B. Hocker, the order (.pdf) expressly prohibits all parties to these cases – including Mace – from making any “oral, written, social media, text or any other form of communication” about them.
Honestly, Hocker’s gag order has been one of the best things to happen to Mace in months… silencing some of the more unhinged, personal invective emanating from her campaign at the very moment it was beginning to drag her across the event horizon into political inviability. Unable to spew vitriol, Mace has reverted to more substantive engagement in recent weeks – refocusing her attention on hot-button policy issues and her accomplishments as a member of congress.
Can Mace maintain this message focus moving forward? She’ll have to if she hopes to mount a return to credibility…
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
13 comments
Alan Wilson is unelectable and weird.
SC doesn’t need Wilson or Mace. This corrupt state needs a good normal non good ole boy candidate.
Mace is by far!…The Best choice to be Governor.. She Gets things done!…And she is more in touch with the working person than anyone out there who is running…She knows what the people of SC want, and has put in the time and effort to talk with them daily to understand the needs of SC. People have seen this in her and know that she will do what she says she will do. Don’t be fooled by democrat writers who are attempting to downsize her accomplishments…in every step of her life.. Mace has displayed he resilience to get the job done. She won’t back down from any corruption she sees, and no other candidate can do that. She has worked non-stop…FOR SC, while serving as a United States Congresswoman. And she can do even more for SC…as Governor.
Rowland, please provide us a list of Nancy’s accomplishments as a legislator. What has she “got done”?
I would be afraid to tak to her out of fear she would start screaming “rape”. We’ve all known that kind at one time or another.
Unfortunately, Nancy Mace’s support of the US Constitution, based on her voting record, has much to be desired. She earned a score of 60 out of 100 for 2025 based on the JBS scoring system. Ralph Norman earned a score of 87. Should we not be voting for integrity and character to obey their oath of office to protect and defend the state and US constitutions, thus protecting our rights and liberty?.
She can both read and work the room – she just DGAF about the room unless she wants too.
She belongs in a rubber room, where she can not harm herself or others.
She’d just walk in and look for the sex swing.
Out of this whole ship of fools we are saddled with, I sadly lean towards Wilson. Mace predictably will accuse every man she encounters in The State House of rape or voyeurism.
RINO Ralphie Norman is a joke. He voted for Kevin McCarthy for Housr Speaker. No thanks on Ralphie. He also voted to keep funding Jewkraine with OUR tax dollars. Nope!
Wilson is the best of a sad lot.
Still in the Nancy Mace camp. Still not convinced that all that’s happened to her are not political hit jobs by ex and RINO’s (seperately). I for one, would like her to apply that energy to getting things done for our state and eliminating taxes. I looked at a restaurant receipt this weekend and with the Mt. Pleasant taxes, the food something taxes, some other tax and state taxes, the total on my restaurant take out deli sandwich was 9%.
If you guys are OK with this continuation of the frog boil form of taxation and get offended by Mace, I’d like to try the alternative.
Judging from her princess behavior at the Charleston Airport, she’s a hot mess!
Don’t forget her F’bomb argument with a constituent in a beauty supply store.
Was Nancy’s speech on the Statehouse steps this morning just her talking to the cars driving by? It didn’t look like anyone bothered to show up.
But it is nice to see that Alan Wilson’s mom is just as dumb as his dad and equally in control of her mouth. Word is she likes to brag about all the different countries she and Joe have had sex in, and if you’ve ever seen a picture of her that would instinctively activate your gag reflex.