Mace defeats Trump-backed primary challenger in South Carolina

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) was projected to have defeated former South Carolina state Rep. Katie Arrington on Tuesday, handing former President Trump his latest high-profile primary loss.

The Associated Press called the race at 11:13 p.m. ET.

Mace, a first-term House member who defeated former Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) in 2020, drew the former president’s ire last year after she criticized him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

While she wasn’t among the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the attack, he still vowed to campaign against her, endorsing Arrington to take her on in the primary.

Unlike many GOP lawmakers who openly criticized Trump after the Capitol riot, Mace sought to cast herself as a believer in the former president’s agenda while acknowledging her disagreements with Trump’s most ardent supporters over the Jan. 6 attack.

Arrington, meanwhile, placed Trump’s endorsement front and center in her campaign and attacked Mace as out of touch with the voters in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

Ultimately, Trump’s endorsement was not enough to push Arrington over the finish line. Recent polling showed Mace with a comfortable lead over Arrington, whose loss on Tuesday was only the latest in a growing list of primary failures for the former president as he weighs a potential 2024 White House bid.