A Caucus of One
A Caucus of One
The case study of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC)
“For mainstream partisans, the way leaders use information is not so troublesome. Many of these lawmakers saw the priorities of the party and those of their constituents as fairly well aligned. These lawmakers can put more trust in what their leaders tell them because what is good for the party's electoral fortunes is often good for their individual portions as well. By contrast, lawmakers out of step with the party's orthodoxy, especially moderate lawmakers, representing moderate or cross-pressured districts, often find that the party's priorities do not match theirs or their districts’.” - James M. Curry
Not afraid to go rough around the edges of her political party, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina's first congressional district faces a crucial fight for her political seat. Part of it concerns reaching out to independent, moderate, and left-of-center voters. Because if Republicans fail to show compassion, especially on issues such as abortion and gun violence, they might lose purple districts, like Ms. Mace's, nationwide in 2024.
Mace's district is captivating because it delivers a new case study for political scientists, historians, and others alike, fascinated by studying members of Congress who serve in moderate-swing districts. Simply put, a case study of how a lawmaker, given the severity of being in a battleground [purple] district, must cater to a particular course of action.
Two recent articles have contextualized the former realtor and Waffle House waitress — Annie Karni for the New York Times, and Julia Johnson for the Washington Examiner.1
Beginning with the former, Karni noted how Mace would be a 'yes' vote to McCarthy's earlier debt ceiling proposal if two key promises were made: First, addressing gun violence. Second, addressing women's issues, such as abortion and contraceptives. Although she anticipated backlash voting for the measure, Mace believed she was able to make an imprint on her party to tackle the issues that matter the most to her. "This way I can drive the debate. It's a way of using my position to push those issues," she expressed.2
With Republicans in control of the House, hard figures such as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who dominate the online waves of the conservative Right, come from very safe districts — it's entirely different in Mace's case.
South Carolina's first congressional district, which runs coastal from Charleston to Hilton Head Island, has come under scrutiny to where the Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear the gerrymandering case in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP.3
In a previous ruling in early January by a panel of three federal court judges: Mary Lewis and Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, and Judge Toby Heytens of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, they agreed that the 1st district violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.4
According to the judges, the state legislature must redraw it because race was a predominant motivating factor. In addition, removing 30,000 African Americans into another district made the new 1st District map an electorally safer seat for Republicans. Under the previous map in 2020, Mace defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Cunningham — who had flipped the seat two years earlier in 2018 from red to blue — by over 1%. After implementing the new map, Mace won re-election by 14% in November.5
Given the makeup of her district, and a need to keep a safe distance away from the rowdy pack of hard-liners in her party, Mace has to cater towards being conservative on financial matters yet center on social ones if she wants to attract voters who aren't coming to grasps with voting Republican just yet. "I'm trying to show how you can bring conservatives and independents along to be on the same page," she said to Karni.6
Karni also indicated Mace's legislative motivation, "But she has built the voting record of a mostly reliable Republican foot soldier, even as she publicly criticizes her own party and racks up television hits and social media clicks."7
How else is a legislator coming from a swing district supposed to act? After all, many politicians get hammered in the airwaves during the silly season, especially on “gotcha” votes.
At a Summerville town hall-style event where constituents could have a coffee with their congresswoman, one retiree constituent who claimed to be a Democrat said, "You live around long enough, she will talk about being bipartisan and reaching across the aisle and working together until the cows come home. When it comes down to the actual votes, she always sticks with the party."8
Also, supporting a presidential candidate may also bring a political sizzle for any lawmaker in a purple area. While Mace said she would support the Republican nominee, she's been tempted to keep quiet, which could be an intelligent move for publicity's sake.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who serves on the House Oversight Committee, said of her east coast colleague, "She doesn't do things that would marginalize her and make her completely ineffective in her party. There's only so much she can do to push the party. If the Republican conference had every one of Nancy Mace's temperament and ideology, we'd be in a much better place in our country."9
Describing her workplace situation as being "a caucus of one," where many in the party may view their middle-ground colleagues with disdain. Even when times get lonely, not being part of the cool kids' table makes her feel more emboldened. She even got herself a dog, a Havanese named Liberty. After all, the general recommendation for wanting a friend in Washington is just that; get a dog.10
Yet, it is worth the grind of being a lawmaker equipped to help shift the party's ability to focus on matters she thinks are crucial amongst women and independents. "The message matters. I'm trying to move the national narrative,” she said.11
With the Washington Examiner, similar attributes were echoed by Mace. For instance, she highlighted how abortion policy will become one of the most significant issues in an election season once 2024 comes along. "It shaped 2022 races, and I do believe that if Republicans ignore it that it will also affect our races in '24."12
Furthermore, in a lengthy response about the criticism she's faced from anti-abortion groups and other members of her party:
“If you want to reduce the number of abortions in this country, then you also need to increase the number of women who can have access to birth control — safe access to birth control, because we have entire counties in this country that don’t have a single OBGYN doctor. If we want to get serious about saving lives, then let’s get serious about saving lives and also showing that you can be pro-life and you can be pro-woman at the same time. They’re not mutually exclusive.”13
She even went out of her way to explicitly state that lawmakers who go about ignoring rape are "being an a-hole to women." Let alone found it disgusting that some anti-abortion groups wouldn't work with her office because she wanted to find better ways to expand access to birth control.14
Mace has become more vocal because she values that one must take positions, and be vocal about them, for it shows that you care. "This is a road map to winning in states and in districts where independents outnumber Republicans or where Democrats and independents outnumber Republicans — where we can win over suburban women and suburban moms…”15
On the topic of guns, Mace acknowledges that gun violence is a huge issue across this nation. Such as, if a suburban mom drops off her kids at school, that parent may be extremely worried on a daily basis if their children could be the next major catastrophic event. And because Mace wants to work on gun reform, noting how gun violence is bad, "people automatically think I'm saying gun control."16
In Mace's belief, actions can be taken where policy solutions could be placed that won't put additional restrictions on gun rights. Such as strengthening background checks as well as, "hardening our schools and synagogues and churches with leftover Covid funds," she said. Mace wants to provide "a middle ground that the vast majority of Americans support."17
As for backing a presidential nominee once more, Mace, who previously kept quiet about the issue, made a generic comment by saying, "I will tell you I have said I am going to watch the race and see how it settles and see who's going to actually be in the race and who's not… I've said I'll support the nominee when we get through the process, and I hope that it's a vigorous process right now."18
Republicans are in a dire situation where they must keep their "majority makers" who serve under competitive swing districts. For example, funding to candidates like those in New York have already been raising money. Given the high political profile, the state may be on its way to seeing more money poured into congressional races than ever before.19
Under Mace's most recent first quarter filings through the Federal Election Commission (FEC), she has gathered over $255k in total contributions, of which a little over $133k come from individuals.20
It's a tough call; even though she won in a newly drawn controversial district by 14%, much can still happen. But for now, she has to play it cool with the party she's in, even if she has to do it all on her own.
Annie Karni, "Nancy Mace, a ‘Caucus of One’ in the G.O.P., Says She’s Trying to Change Her Party," New York Times, May 9, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/us/politics/nancy-mace.html. ; Julia Johnson, "Nancy Mace: GOP must appeal to independents on abortion and gun violence in order to win in 2024," Washington Examiner, May 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/nancy-mace-gop--appeal-independents-abortion-gun-violence-win-2024.
Karni, "Nancy Mace, a ‘Caucus of One’ in the G.O.P., Says She’s Trying to Change Her Party," New York Times.
Karni; Zach Montellaro, "Supreme Court to hear racial redistricting case from South Carolina," Politico, May 15, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/15/supreme-court-racial-redistricting-case-00096925.
Michael Macagnone, "Supreme Court to decide case on South Carolina congressional map," Roll Call, May 15, 2023, https://rollcall.com/2023/05/15/supreme-court-to-decide-case-on-south-carolina-congressional-map/.
Patrick Phillips, "First SC Congressional district must be redrawn, judges rule," January 6, 2023, WCSC, https://www.live5news.com/2023/01/06/first-sc-congressional-district-must-be-redrawn-judges-rule/.
Karni.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Johnson, "Nancy Mace: GOP must appeal to independents on abortion and gun violence in order to win in 2024," Washington Examiner.
Johnson.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Craig Angioletti, “New York State of Money,” The Legislative Route, May 14, 2023, https://thelegislativeroute.substack.com/p/new-york-state-of-money?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2.
“Nancy Mace for Congress,” Federal Election Commission, accessed May 20, 2023, https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00710103.
https://mises.org/wire/stick-it-your-earmark