Republican Nancy Mace to face Joe Cunningham in South Carolina House race

Republican state Rep. Nancy Mace will face off against incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham (D) in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District this November.

Cunningham ran unopposed in the Democratic primary Tuesday, while Mace was declared the victor of the GOP primary by The Associated Press with a 33-point lead with just over 25 percent of precincts reporting.

Cunningham’s seat is a top target for the GOP after the Democrat flipped the district by just more than 1 point in 2018. The district went for President Trump by 13 points in 2016, giving Republicans hope that higher turnout will help unseat Cunningham.

Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel military academy, has been touted for years as a rising star within the Republican Party. She has been featured in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program and received the endorsement of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). She also has been buoyed by a hefty advertising campaign from the conservative Club for Growth.

Still, Cunningham is expected to put up a tough fight in his bid for a second term. He’s raised $3.7 million since the beginning of the cycle and had $2.6 million in the bank as of late May. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) said it is confident he will win in November. 

“Just as he did in 2018, Cunningham has consolidated and maintained support from a broad spectrum of Republicans, Democrats and independents across his district and is raising the resources to win re-election. Well-liked in the district and personifying Lowcountry values, Rep. Cunningham is in excellent position to hold this unique seat,” the DCCC said in a memo circulated after the primary results were called.