First, she endorsed her. Then, she helped raise more than $300,000 for her reelection bid.
Now, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will appear on television screens across the 1st Congressional District in a new 30-second ad where she further cements her support for U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in one of the state’s most closely watched Republican primary contests.
The ad, called “Fighter,” will begin airing district-wide Thursday on digital, cable and broadcast, according to the Mace campaign.
The six-figure buy represents the second televised campaign message from Mace in three weeks with, so far, no response on the airwaves from Katie Arrington, Mace’s chief Republican challenger in the contest.
The latest ad begins with Haley speaking straight to camera, urging her fellow South Carolina Republicans to join her in voting for Mace.
“Nancy is a fighter,” Haley says in the spot, where she calls Mace a “strong pro-life mom and a tax-cutter.”
“Nancy loves our military, and she’ll defend our border,” Haley continues, as footage of Mace meeting with veterans in Mount Pleasant and walking along the U.S.-Mexico border rolls across the screen. “Nancy Mace is tough as nails. She won this seat from a liberal Democrat, and she’ll keep it Republican. I’m proud Nancy Mace is our congresswoman, and I hope you’ll join me in voting for her.”
Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump, endorsed Mace in February, just days before Trump announced his “complete and total” support of Arrington.
In a written statement, Mace noted that Haley, a resident of Kiawah Island and a potential 2024 presidential candidate, is not only a 1st District voter. Haley is one of her constituents.
Mace said Haley “made this ad for my reelection to remind voters just how hard I work on issues that matter to the Lowcountry.”
“Nikki was an incredible governor and UN ambassador, and she knows I put South Carolina and America first everyday in office,” Mace continued.
The Arrington campaign responded by questioning the political alliance of Haley and Mace and said Mace could not be trusted.
“If Nikki is reading this, I’d give her the same warning I’d give to anyone that Nancy runs to for help: Nancy Mace will turn her back on you once you have served your purpose, just like she did to President Trump,” Arrington campaign spokesman Chris D’Anna said. “Last time Nikki endorsed against Katie, Katie won by double digits. We’ll see you on the trail.”
An hour before the Mace campaign announced its new TV ad, Arrington took to social media to promote what she called her campaign’s “first digital ad.”
The 42-second video features footage from Trump rally held in Florence in March, and it shares a common theme with Mace’s ad. The title of Arrington’s new digital ad is called “Fighter for South Carolina.”
“Katie Arrington is a fighter for the people of South Carolina,” Trump says in the video, which also features footage of Arrington’s remarks at the rally where she called Mace the “Liz Chaney of the South” for her criticism of Trump after the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.
Asked how long the Mace campaign plans to keep their TV spot on the airwaves, her campaign manager Austin McCubbin said, “Until we change it to the next one.”
“We’re up and we’re staying up throughout the remainder of the primary. I can confirm that,” he continued.
Mace faces two Republican challengers on the June 14 primary ballot: Arrington, a former state lawmaker who most recently worked for the Department of Defense, and Lynz Piper-Loomis, a North Charleston advocate for military veterans.
Whoever wins the GOP nomination will take on Democrat Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician, in November.
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