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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina first district congresswoman Nancy Mace released another survey this week showing her leading the field in the battle for the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Mace’s latest polling suggests she has expanded her advantage in the rapidly evolving race to replace outgoing status quo governor Henry McMaster. According to the new survey (.pdf), which like her previous polling was conducted by Stratus Intelligence, Mace received the support of 24% of likely Republican primary voters – up 1% from January.
Four-term attorney general Alan Wilson came in second with 18% support – down 1% from two months ago – while lieutenant governor Pamela Evette ticked up by a single percentage point – from 15% from 14%.
Fifth district congressman Ralph Norman was the biggest mover in the field, according to Mace’s survey, climbing 3% – from 11% to 14% over the past two months.
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As with the previous survey released by Mace, a massive chunk of the electorate (29%) remains undecided – down slightly from the 32% who declined to express a preference in January. That’s expected to be fertile ground for newly minted contender Rom Reddy, the wealthy Isle of Palms businessman who just announced his candidacy on Monday (March 16, 2026).
Reddy said he was dropping a cool $1 million into the race during his first two weeks as a candidate, an initial investment in building name identification amongst GOP primary voters.
“I will not, in any way, just keep throwing money at this thing until I figure out if this is what the people want,” he told reporter Nick Reynolds of The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier on Monday.
The last independent poll released in the race – published just last week by Quantus Insights – showed Mace and Wilson tied at 22%, Evette at 16% and Norman at 11%. In that survey, 26% of respondents were undecided. When “leaners” – or respondents who indicated they were leaning toward supporting a certain candidate – were removed, Mace narrowly led the field with 19% support, followed by Wilson at 18%, Evette at 13% and Norman at 9%. Absent “leaners,” the undecideds in the contest surged to 39%.
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According to Mace’s survey, her favorability among GOP voters climbed from 34% to 42%, while her unfavorables dipped from 44% to 42% – giving her a net favorable rating of +2. Wilson led the field with a net favorable rating of +12, while Evette and Norman boasted favorable ratings of +8 and +6, respectively.
“Overall, the survey shows Nancy Mace in a commanding position in the Republican primary,” her pollsters claimed. “She leads the field on the ballot, has near universal name recognition, and is the only candidate whose favorability improves as more voters become familiar with her, while her opponents see the opposite trend. With just under thirty percent of voters still undecided, Mace’s high favorability, strong standing, and positive trajectory place her in the best position to consolidate additional support while the rest of the field is stuck vying for second place.”
Stratus surveyed 600 likely GOP voters across the Palmetto State from March 9-11, 2026, using a mix of text-to-web and live phone calls.
Count on FITSNews to keep our audience apprised of the latest survey data in this unfolding race… especially as the impact of Reddy’s candidacy begins to be felt.
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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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4 comments
Alleged to have honestly polled a few hundred in a state populated with upwards of 8,000,000 residents. *eye roll*
So what does a poll that doesn’t just include her staff and family of her staff say? It’s interesting how all of her polls always have her in the lead.
All legitimate polls have her in the lead because she is in the lead and will be our next Governor.
Doubtful, she’s proven that she’s mentally unstable. I don’t know anyone who’s going to vote for her. From my view it’s a race between Wilson and Evette.