Mace celebrates federal funding for CARTA amid pushback on voting record

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- U.S. Representative Nancy Mace on Wednesday celebrated new Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding coming to the Lowcountry despite voting against the legislation that made it possible.

The $26 million in FTA funding, announced earlier this week by Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), was awarded to the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) to build a transit and workforce center.

Officials say the funding will give CARTA resources to refurbish Shipwatch Square into a “super stop charging station” for electric buses.

“We need to make sure we’re getting as many resources as possible especially when it comes to infrastructure for our region of the state,” Mace said during a press conference with CARTA Chairman Mike Seekings in North Charleston. “State dollars aren’t enough we also need federal funding.”

The congresswoman’s remarks drew criticism from political opponents and some Lowcountry voters, who argued she was trying to “take credit” for the funding she voted against.

“It’s a little disingenuous to me that someone would come here and try to take credit for something they initially voted against,” voter Gloria Aslanidis said after the event. “She also said that once the funds became available, she would advocate to get it in the Lowcountry. Well, I appreciate that, except that the funds would not be available, had the vote gone her way.”

In 2021, Mace voted against the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which authorized up to $108 billion for public transportation.

“It is important for every Lowcountry voter to know that not only did Rep. Mace vote against this critical infrastructure bill, she wrote an opinion column for Fox News in April 2021 calling it a “fiasco,” “absurd,” and this specific program (funding for electric mass transit vehicles) an example of “socialism.”, Chairman of the Charleston County Democrat Party, Sam Skardon, wrote in a Wednesday morning news release.

When asked about her position, Mace defended her record arguing that she did not vote for the legislation because it did not include enough funding for surface transportation.

“The original bill didn’t do enough for projects like this. I mean, very little…We’re talking about a $1.2 trillion bill that $110 billion of that was going to surface transportation, ” she said. “If it were me writing that bill, and it was and I’m only one vote, I would have dedicated more funding to actual transit projects and surface transportation.”

Mace further pushed back on the criticism by retorting, “What do you want me to do, turn my back on the Lowcountry when we can get funding for transit? Absolutely not.”

Lisa Izzo, who currently lives in the 1st congressional district, also expressed dissatisfaction over Mace’s failure to “acknowledge that she voted against the bill.”

“She did not at once give credit for the federal funding that came. She mentioned the grants, but that money comes from the federal infrastructure bill that she voted against,” Izzo continued. “And, she did not give credit to the Biden-Harris administration…Even Senator Graham or Representative Clyburn that voted for it.”

Clyburn was the only U.S. House member from South Carolina to vote for the legislation. He and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared together during a Wednesday morning event in Orangeburg, S.C. to discuss a $23 million investment aimed at redeveloping Railroad Corner in downtown Orangeburg.

When asked by reporters what he thought about House Republicans who voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law now applauding projects funded by it, Buttigieg quipped, “Welcome aboard.”

“It’s true that not every member of Congress was there with us when we were working to get this done and it turns out that is no barrier to them being glad to see that funding come to their districts,” Buttigieg continued. “A good project is a good project and we’re not going to hold it against the constituents of any member who was short-sighted enough to vote ‘no’.”

Construction on CARTA’s new electric transportation hub is expected to begin in 2025.