Tuesday, incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) defeated Catherine Templeton and Bill Young to win the Republican nomination outright for South Carolina’s first congressional district election in November.
According to Mace, it was the largest margin of any race she had competed in despite being outspent by what she alleged were efforts led by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“Let me talk about your win last night because it surprised me, because there’s no run-off,” FNC host Neil Cavuto said. “It was one thing just if you could get the most votes, but would you get over 50%? You have managed to fend off a Kevin McCarthy-led effort to primary you out of your job. What happened?”
“Well, Kevin McCarthy spent $7 million against us in our primary,” Mace replied. “It ended up being the most expensive primary in South Carolina history last night. And I won by a larger margin than I have won any race in my life. We won by 30 points last night. And what I heard resoundingly is that D.C. is out of touch with hardworking Americans. D.C. is out of touch with South Carolinians. And the people had their voices heard.”
“And it was a tough-fought race,” she continued. “I ended up being my own campaign manager, Neil, and worked really hard to assemble a team that would pull out a major win last night. We tracked it every day. And I’m really proud of our team. I’m proud of South Carolina. And I don’t owe anyone in Washington anything. I don’t work for Washington. I don’t work for the establishment. I work for the people of South Carolina, who elected me.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
