Incumbent Nancy Mace (R) defeated Katie Arrington (R) in the Republican primary for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District on June 14, 2022, winning about 53 percent of the vote.^[1]

Arrington won the district's Republican primary in 2018, defeating incumbent and former governor Mark Sanford (R) before losing the general election to Joe Cunningham (D). Cunningham was the first Democratic U.S. House candidate to win election in the district since 1978. Mace defeated Cunningham in 2020 and said she is better-positioned to win the general election. Former President Donald Trump (R) targeted Mace (along with several other congressional Republicans) for voting to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. His endorsement of Arrington focused national media attention on the race.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Mace represented South Carolina’s 99th House District from 2018 to 2020. Her campaign focused on electability. Mace said, “It’s the 10th fastest growing congressional district in the country…That makes the dynamics a lot different. You’ve got to be able to win your primary but you also have to be able to win a general election…Nancy Pelosi would love nothing more than to win it back.” Mace was endorsed by former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley (R), former White House chief of staff and U.S. House member from South Carolina Mick Mulvaney (R), U.S. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R), and others.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Arrington served as an information security officer in the U.S. Department of Defense during the Trump Administration. She also represented South Carolina’s 94th House District from 2016 to 2018. Arrington’s campaign focused on positioning her as the true conservative in the race. Arrington said, “Nancy Mace, she’s not a conservative…[she] turned her back on us, and she turned her back on President Trump.”^[3]^[9] Arrington also said that Mace, “read the room wrong; she thought this district was a moderate district, and we are not. We are conservative.”^[9] In addition to Trump, former candidate Lynz Piper-Loomis (R), withdrew from the primary and endorsed Arrington during an official debate on May 20, 2022.^[3]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Arrington criticized Mace’s effort to enact federal marijuana legislation, saying, “That’s not what conservatives are concerned about right now…We’re concerned about the economy, we’re concerned about our children and we’re concerned about national security.”^[3] Arrington also criticized Mace’s stance on abortion, tweeting, “Abortion is murder. Anyone in favor of exceptions, Nancy Mace included, are complicit in the systematic killing of millions of unborn babies. I am 100% pro-life with no exceptions.”^[13] Mace had stated publicly that she was a rape victim and has advocated for federal exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape or incest.^[5]

Mace’s response to the criticism from her opponent was twofold. She spoke about her conservative voting record in Congress and highlighted her scorecard from the conservative nonprofit The Heritage Foundation. Additionally, she spoke about working with Democrats to pass legislation and tried to explain the district’s independence. Mace said, "This district is different…I don’t think it’s like the rest of the country. We march to the beat of our own drum. We want someone who’s going to be an independent voice."^[4]^[2]^[5]

Analysts described this primary race as a bellwether for Trump’s influence. As political science professor Gibbs Knotts explained, “This is the type of district that’s going to decide who controls the House.”^[14] Before the primary, the Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections all rated South Carolina's 1st Congressional District as a solid/safe Republican seat. This means that Nancy Mace, as the winner of the Republican primary, is also likely to win the general election.^[4]^[5]^[14]

This page focuses on South Carolina's 1st Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 1

Incumbent Nancy Mace defeated Katie Arrington and Lynz Piper-Loomis (Unofficially withdrew) in the Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 1 on June 14, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Nancy Mace	53.1	39,470
	Katie Arrington	45.2	33,589
	Lynz Piper-Loomis (Unofficially withdrew)	1.6	1,221

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 74,280
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Nancy Mace

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

South Carolina State House of Representatives District 99 (2018-2020)

Biography: Mace earned a master’s degree from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Before becoming an elected official, she worked as a commercial real estate agent and ran a public relations firm. Mace served as the state representative for South Carolina’s 99th House District from 2018 to 2020.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Mace has emphasized her deep roots in the district, highlighting her past job as a waitress at a local Waffle House restaurant and her graduation from the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, as their first female cadet. She wrote a book detailing her experiences called In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel (Simon & Shuster in 2001).

Mace says that she is conservative before she is Republican and she has the record to back it up. She highlights her voting record as a state representative and U.S. House member, as well as her rating with the conservative nonprofit The Heritage Foundation.

Mace has focused her campaign on electability, saying, “It’s the 10th fastest growing congressional district in the country…That makes the dynamics a lot different. You’ve got to be able to win your primary but you also have to be able to win a general election…Nancy Pelosi would love nothing more than to win it back.”

Show sources

Sources: WXLT News 19, “GOP candidates Mace and Arrington meet in South Carolina's US House District 1 debate,” accessed June 1, 2022; Twitter, “Katie Arrington,” accessed June 1, 2022; Nancy Mace’s campaign website, “Bio,” accessed May 25, 2022; Nancy Mace’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed May 25, 2022; LinkedIn, “Nancy Mace,” accessed May 26, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House South Carolina District 1 in 2022.

Katie Arrington

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

South Carolina State House of Representatives District 94 (2016-2018)

Biography: Arrington attended Canisius College and Walden University. Prior to entering politics, she worked in defense contracting and real estate development. Arrington represented South Carolina’s 94th House District from 2016 to 2018. She later served as an information security officer in the U.S. Department of Defense from 2020 to 2021.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Arrington has embraced her endorsement from former President Donald Trump, saying, “Under his leadership, our country was on a pathway to unparalleled success. His America First agenda uplifted families across the Lowcountry and our Nation.”

Arrington says she is focusing her campaign on servant leadership. She says that Americans’ “values and voices are falling on deaf ears. Washington DC is full of self-serving politicians who only want to use their taxpayer-funded job to advance their celebrity status and personal benefit.” She has criticized her opponent’s frequent media interviews.

Arrington argues that her opponent is not conservative enough for the district, saying, “[conservatives] are concerned about the economy, we’re concerned about our children, and we’re concerned about national security.”

Show sources

Sources: Katie Arrington’s campaign website, “Trump Endorsed,” accessed May 25, 2022; Katie Arrington’s campaign website, “Home,” accessed May 25, 2022; Katie Arrington’s campaign website, “About,” accessed May 25, 2022; LinkedIn, “Katie Arrington,” accessed May 26, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House South Carolina District 1 in 2022.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Nancy Mace

May 4, 2022

View more candidate videos here:

Katie Arrington

May 10, 2022

View more candidate videos here:

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[15]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[16]^[17]^[18]

Race ratings: South Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2022
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 8, 2022	November 1, 2022	October 25, 2022	October 18, 2022
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Election spending

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.^[19] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.^[20]

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Nancy Mace	Republican Party	$5,884,937	$5,733,464	$210,961	As of December 31, 2022
Katie Arrington	Republican Party	$1,011,046	$1,011,046	$0	As of August 23, 2022
Lynz Piper-Loomis	Republican Party	$149,304	$147,598	$1,706	As of December 31, 2022
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2022. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[21]^[22]^[23]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

By candidate	By election
Nancy Mace Katie Arrington	Open Secrets Federal Election Commission

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting.
Effect of redistricting - How districts in the state changed as a result of redistricting following the 2020 census.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2022 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

	2024 → ← 2020
South Carolina's 1st Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: March 30, 2022
	Primary: June 14, 2022; General: November 8, 2022
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in South Carolina
Race ratings
	Cook Partisan Voter Index (2022): R+7; Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; Inside Elections: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
See also
	South Carolina's 1st Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th; South Carolina elections, 2022; U.S. Congress elections, 2022; U.S. Senate elections, 2022; U.S. House elections, 2022; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Below was the map in use at the time of the election, enacted as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle, compared to the map in place before the election.

South Carolina District 1
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

South Carolina District 1
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Effect of redistricting

See also: Redistricting in South Carolina after the 2020 census

The table below details the results of the 2020 presidential election in each district at the time of the 2022 election and its political predecessor district.^[24] This data was compiled by Daily Kos Elections.^[25]

2020 presidential results by Congressional district, South Carolina
District	2022 district		Political predecessor district
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
South Carolina's 1st	44.9%	53.5%	46.1%	52.1%
South Carolina's 2nd	43.9%	54.5%	43.6%	54.9%
South Carolina's 3rd	30.6%	68.0%	30.5%	68.1%
South Carolina's 4th	39.8%	58.4%	38.9%	59.3%
South Carolina's 5th	40.2%	58.4%	41.0%	57.6%
South Carolina's 6th	65.3%	33.2%	67.0%	31.8%
South Carolina's 7th	40.2%	58.8%	40.2%	58.8%

Competitiveness

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2022

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in South Carolina.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in South Carolina in 2022. Information below was calculated on May 10, 2022, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Twenty-eight candidates filed to run for South Carolina’s seven U.S. House districts, including nine Democrats and 19 Republicans. That’s four candidates per district, more than the 2.86 candidates per district in 2020 and less than the 6.14 in 2018.

This was the first election to take place under new district lines following the 2020 census. South Carolina was apportioned seven districts, the same number it was apportioned after the 2010 census. All incumbents ran for re-election, meaning there were no open seats this year. The only years to feature open seats between 2012 and 2022 were 2018, when the 4th district was open, and 2012, when the newly-drawn 7th district was open.

There were two contested Democratic primaries this year, the lowest number since 2016, and four contested Republican primaries, the highest number since at least 2012.

Eight candidates - one Democrat and seven Republicans, including incumbent Rep. Tom Rice (R) - filed to run in the 7th district, more than in any other. That’s three less than the highest number of candidates who ran for a seat in 2020, when five candidates ran in the 1st district. There were three districts - the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 5th - where incumbents did not face primary challengers. One district - the 3rd - was guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats filed. No districts were guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed.

Presidential elections

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+7. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 7 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made South Carolina's 1st the 172nd most Republican district nationally.^[26]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in South Carolina's 1st based on 2022 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
44.9%	53.5%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in South Carolina, 2020

South Carolina presidential election results (1900-2020)

16 Democratic wins
14 Republican wins
1 other win

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	SR^[27]	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

The table below details demographic data in South Carolina and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019. {{{Demo widget}}}

State party control

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of South Carolina's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from South Carolina, November 2022
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	1	1
Republican	2	6	8
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	7	9

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in South Carolina's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in South Carolina, November 2022
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Henry McMaster
Lieutenant Governor	Pamela Evette
Secretary of State	Mark Hammond
Attorney General	Alan Wilson

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the South Carolina State Legislature as of November 2022.

South Carolina State Senate

Party		As of November 2022
	Democratic Party	16
	Republican Party	30
	Vacancies	0
Total		46

South Carolina House of Representatives

Party		As of November 2022
	Democratic Party	43
	Republican Party	80
	Vacancies	1
Total		124

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, South Carolina was a Republican trifecta, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and control of the governorship. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

South Carolina Party Control: 1992-2022
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Election context

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in South Carolina in the 2022 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in South Carolina, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2022
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
South Carolina	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	N/A	$3,480.00	3/30/2022	Source
South Carolina	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	5% of the active, registered voters in the geographical area the office represents	N/A	7/15/2022	Source

District election history

2020

See also: South Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 1

Nancy Mace defeated incumbent Joe Cunningham in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 1 on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Nancy Mace (R)	50.6	216,042
	Joe Cunningham (D)	49.3	210,627
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	442

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 427,111
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Joe Cunningham advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 1.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Benjamin Frasier (D)