Candidates make final push in race for 1st Congressional District

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Four candidates are looking to unseat incumbent Nancy Mace in the First Congressional District come November. Mace, who is seeking a third term, will face two Republican challengers in Tuesday’s primary.

Among them is Catherine Templeton, who launched her campaign at Shem Creek in February. She has been trying to prove to voters that she is the conservative voice to take on Mace.

Templeton, who voted early, said she planned on spending the day doing some last-minute campaigning, shaking hands, and chatting with voters near polling sites.

Templeton has a career spanning multiple industries. She is the former president of US Brick, and back in 2010, she was appointed by then-Governor Nikki Haley to lead the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulations. Two years after that, she became director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

And this is not her first political campaign. She ran for the Republican nomination for South Carolina governor back in 2018 but ultimately lost to Henry McMaster.

Templeton said she has what it takes to get results in Washington and battle tough issues like inflation and immigration reform, and she feels her message is resonating with Lowcountry voters.

“I love people, and so it has been so much fun shaking hands, and feeling the enthusiasm; people are really, really excited to replace Nancy Mace to put some new leadership, some stability, an adult, in DC, and to represent the Lowcountry,” she said on Tuesday morning.

Mace and Templeton have not shied away from a heated campaign, trading jabs throughout the entire season.

Rep. Mace will finish the day on Daniel Island with what she hopes is a party celebrating her primary win before heading to November’s general election.

She has held the district since 2020 after she flipped it from Democrat Joe Cunningham. A recent poll conducted by News 2’s parent company, Nexstar, and Emerson College shows she’s still the favorite among the three Republican candidates in the primary race.

Mace spent much of the day traveling across the district as she made a final push to voters at polling locations on Daniel Island and in Mount Pleasant, Summerville, and Port Royal hoping to draw in any last-minute undecided voters.

“My goal today is to show everybody in the party there is a place for MAGA, there is a place for people like me that are independent thinking but very fiscally conservative. There’s a place for right-of-center and moderates, there’s a place for conservatives, and there’s a place for MAGA and Donald Trump. Our party is a big tent, and we should allow every conservative in the party who wants to be there,” she said.

Rep. Mace is no stranger to primary challengers after beating Trump-backed Katie Arrington in 2022’s Republican primary race by just 8% of the vote, or what turned out to be 6,000 votes.

In her first bid for the seat, she cruised to a primary victory over now-State Representative Kathy Landing before taking the seat from then-Representative Joe Cunningham by just over 1% in the General Election.

Mace is hoping to recreate the 2020 primary victory, and recent polling from Nexstar/Emerson College shows she held a more than 20-point lead at the time of the poll.

It is clear Rep. Mace is the Trump-backed candidate but that might hole a different weight than it has in the past given former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley defeated Donald Trump in the First Congressional District handily during February’s presidential preference primary, so that will be worth watching.

Marine veteran and financial planner Bill Young is also campaigning for the seat. It could result in a two-week runoff on June 25.

Young cast his vote on James Island on Tuesday. Recent polling has shown Young in last place behind Mace and Templeton, but that has not stopped him from being confident about his platform and campaign.

Some of the issues Young has stood on are securing the border, empowering immigration judges, and building up the economy.

As a marine veteran himself, he’s also focused on improvements for veteran health care, saying he believes veterans should have the first and last say about their healthcare and where it comes from, and pouring in more resources to the VA.

Young said he’s been encouraged while speaking with voters over the past few days who said they want to see change – and he believes he can bring that.

Meanwhile, two Democrats are vying to flip the First Congressional District and take the seat from Nancy Mace and Republicans this November. Voters will choose between attorney and U.S. Coast Guard veteran Mac Deford and business executive Michael B. Moore – both candidates looking to take elected office for the first time.

After Tuesday’s primary, only one of these names will land a spot on the November ballot against the winner of the Republican primary.

Moore cast his ballot in Mount Pleasant. He is the former president of the International African American Museum and has highlighted an economy that works for everyone, protecting women’s healthcare, and saving the coast as key issues he will focus on if elected.

Deford, who most recently worked as the general counsel for the Town of Hilton Head Island, met with voters at a polling location on James Island.

He has built a campaign on issues like equal access to quality education, affordable access to quality health, and women having control over their own bodies, among others.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people, and some didn’t even know that there was a primary. They thought ‘Hey, I voted in the presidential primary a couple of months ago, I thought the next time I needed to go was in November.’ No, this is a very important primary and we just encourage people to use their voice to express their political voice… today’s the day,” said Moore.

“Turnout has been, not too high, but it has been steady,” said Deford. We just got back from Beaufort County […] we did see a lot of friendly faces and so that’s a great sign.”

Moore and Deford participated in a News 2 debate last week.