Nancy Mace ‘Origin Story’ Headlines Politico

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by WILL FOLKS

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The largest political publication in America is focusing its attention – nearly 10,000 words of it – to one of South Carolina’s five announced candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

On Friday morning (February 27, 2026), Politico dropped its long-awaited deep dive into the chaotic life and times of U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace – a sprawling feature story focusing on her personal and political evolution, which appear to be fueled in equal measure by ambition and trauma.

And the constant friction between the two…

“I don’t know that I’ll ever be OK with myself,” Mace told the author. “There’s no end of the story where I’m whole.”

Written by Michael Kruse, the expansive, evocative tome – which you can read by clicking here – covers all the bases of Mace.

First, it explores her history-making rise through the corps of cadets at The Citadel, where she became the first female to wear the famed ring. Next, it chronicled her foray into politics, notably her association with this media outlet and specifically, this author – who was described by Kruse as “a scallywag” and “provocateur” who helped propel Mace’s ascendency onto the statewide stage.

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“The linchpin of the rise of Mace in Palmetto State politics was her alliance with (Will) Folks and FITS,” the story noted. “FITS put her at the vanguard of what was to come. Her relationship with ‘the bad boy’ of the political scene of the state was a key, in the words of one longtime GOP consultant with deep South Carolina ties. She garnered a reputation for being ‘flirty,’ ‘flaunty’ and ‘crass,’ said another.

“If Will was the playboy,” one of Kruse’s sources noted, “she was the playgirl.”

From there, the piece delved into Mace’s brief tenure at the S.C. State House – which included her first public declarations of the sexual assault she says she endured at the age of sixteen.

“A rape is trauma and it’s not just something you can just shake off and forget, it’s something you remember for a lifetime,” Mace said at the time. “I remember when, I remember where. I remember there were no sheets on the mattress. And I remember saying, ‘no,’ again and again.”

“Intentional or not — and she says it wasn’t — her heightened talk of her trauma was her runway to Congress,” Kruse wrote.

Mace’s congressional career has been nothing short of a barnburner – one marked by mercuriality and a constantly evolving relationship with her so-called “father figure,” U.S. president Donald Trump.

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RELATED | NANCY MACE PITCHES JUDICIAL TERM LIMITS

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Mace flip-flopped on Trump… then Trump flip-flopped on her, opposing her in a GOP primary in 2022 (calling her “crazy”) only to endorse her two years later. Along the way, Mace enraged the Washington swamp when she joined seven other GOP lawmakers in voting to oust former U.S. speaker Kevin McCarthy – and before that when she voted against McCarthy and numerous other GOP leaders on a big debt ceiling vote.

Naturally, Kruse’s article includes an extensive treatment of Mace’s February 2025 “scorched earth” speech – the fallout from which continues to reverberate across the Palmetto State’s legal and political landscapes.

Kruse also touched on Mace’s latest flashpoint – being one of the only Republicans in Washington, D.C. to defy Trump on the release of the Epstein Files.

“She has shown great courage on the Epstein issue,” U.S. congressman Ro Khanna told Kruse.

That’s correct… along with Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia, Mace stood on principle on that issue.

And is still standing on principle…

“It might end her electoral career,” Kruse mused in his article. “It also might not.”

Kruse’s treatise was about as even-handed an assessment of Mace as I’ve seen – asking blunt questions, pulling no punches and allowing numerous Mace detractors to land several blows of their own against her. But it also permitted the candidate to speak her truth in the sort of unvarnished and intimate way you don’t see in typical news articles… for better or worse.

Kruse’s final verdict on Mace? You’ll have to read his article and find out for yourself… but whether you love Mace or hate her, think she’s crazy or crazy like a fox, believe her to be a victim or an opportunist, once again the bottom line is we continue to find ourselves talking about her.

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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.

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