- Nancy Mace has a new GOP primary challenger: her recently departed chief of staff.
- Dan Hanlon, who had worked for Mace since she got to Congress, filed paperwork to run against her.
- Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly encouraged him to do it.
Dan Hanlon, the former chief of staff for Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, has taken the most official step yet in his bid to run his former boss out of Congress.
On Friday, Hanlon filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run in the GOP primary in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, which covers Charleston and surrounding areas.
A person familiar with Hanlon’s emerging campaign confirmed the veracity of the filing. POLITICO first reported that Hanlon was considering the move.
Hanlon had worked for Mace since she arrived in Congress in January 2023, before being reportedly fired in December 2023.
According to the Washington Post, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — who Mace voted to oust in October — privately encouraged Hanlon to run.
It’s the latest bad news for Mace, a controversial character whose record of public flip-flopping and perceived camera-hungriness have turned off fellow GOP colleagues.
Despite once being a critic of former President Donald Trump, Mace endorsed him over Nikki Haley — who backed her against a Trump-backed primary challenger in 2022 — earlier this week.
