Rep Nancy Mace weighs bid for South Carolina senate seat following Lindsey Graham’s sudden death

South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace is reportedly eyeing a run for the US Senate following the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham.

According to Politico, citing two people familiar with the matter, Mace is weighing a campaign for the seat and plans to begin polling for a potential bid. Mace still has money remaining in her federal campaign account from her previous congressional races.

Mace had already been expected to leave the House after her unsuccessful campaign for South Carolina governor earlier this year. She finished fifth in the Republican primary, receiving about 12 percent of the vote.

The congresswoman has already run for Senate in the past, unsuccessfully challenging Graham in the 2014 Republican primary and finishing fifth in that race as well.

In a post on X on Sunday morning amid reports of Graham’s sudden and unexpected death, Mace posted a clip from The Godfather Part III with the caption, “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in…”

Should she run, Mace is likely to face pushback from President Donald Trump, who has already campaigned against her by backing one of her rivals in the gubernatorial primary. Trump has also already suggested that he has a preferred candidate in mind to succeed Graham, though he declined to identify that person.

“I have somebody that I think would be great, but I don’t want to say it now because it’s just too soon with Lindsey,” Trump told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday. “I don’t even want to talk about anybody, but I do have somebody who I think is really good.”

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is tasked with appointing an interim replacement to the Senate until a special election can be held in August. 

“They’ll have some people joining," Trump said. "Some are good, some are bad. But I have somebody that I like, but I’m not going to tell you who now because it’s too soon.”