Post and Courier: Nancy Mace, one of The Citadel’s first two female graduates, is expected to announce Saturday that she will challenge U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in next June’s GOP primary.If you were around for the Citadel story, you’ll recall that conservatives weren’t exactly Mace’s friends. Now she’s Tea Party. Some people deal with bullying by fighting back, others escape by joining the bullies’ team, I guess.
Mace has indicated she may run and said Thursday she will make her decision known Saturday morning at the Berkeley County GOP breakfast meeting in Goose Creek.
In a separate news release, the county party said Saturday’s meeting will include “a special guest with a huge announcement for the entire state.”
Mace would be the second official Republican challenger to Graham, who has more than $6.3 million in his campaign warchest but whose willingness to compromise with Democrats has angered some in the GOP base.
If Mace runs, she would be Graham’s second primary challenger. Upstate businessman Richard Cash already has announced that he’s in the race.
Mace is being called a credible threat to Graham in the South Carolina primary — and she probably is. What’s not being said is that he’s probably also a shoe-in in the general. So if Republican voters do boot him, he can take the route of his old friend Joe Lieberman, found a “S. Carolina for Graham" party, and win the general as a third party candidate. Republicans would almost certainly allow him to caucus with them, because the numbers in the Senate are so tight they can’t afford to lose any members. A Lieberman-style sore loser run would be nearly guaranteed to come without consequence.
