She pleaded hardship. The committee gave her a 93% discount on $16,700 in unpaid ethics fines.

"Still, the ultimate fine -- $1,200 -- represents just over 7 percent of what Mace owed."

That line, from the Post and Courier's December 14, 2023 report, is the number. The S.C. House Ethics Committee voted unanimously that day to reduce Mace's accumulated state campaign-finance fines from $16,700 to $1,200. Her appeal cited financial hardship, COVID-era health problems in her family, and death threats she received after January 6, 2021.

The committee accepted it.

The backstory. The fines accumulated after Mace left the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2020 and never closed her state campaign account. By March 2023 her unpaid balance stood at $16,700 -- one of the largest delinquent accounts the committee held. The Post and Courier had first reported the fines in 2021, when the tab was $5,100 and a spokeswoman said Mace would address them. The fines became a campaign issue during her 2022 re-election race when her opponent, Democrat Annie Andrews, pointed out Mace's own late filings after Mace's campaign attacked Andrews for hers. Again, Mace's campaign said she was "in the process" of fixing it.

She was not. Committee staff noted spending years trying to reach her and receiving no response.

The account closure. On November 27, 2023, Mace finally closed the account. She donated approximately $3,800 to My Sister's House, a North Charleston domestic abuse shelter, accounted for $588 in monthly software fees, and wrote off $11,200 as "technical accounting errors" in her final disclosure. Two days later, she filed her appeal for a fine reduction.

The appeal. In the appeal, Mace cited financial hardship as a factor. The Post and Courier noted she earns a $174,000 congressional salary and had, with her then-partner, purchased a $3.9 million home on Isle of Palms and jointly owned a $1.3 million Washington, D.C. property. The article noted the couple had recently separated.

The vote. The committee voted unanimously in favor of the reduction. Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, framed the decision as consistent with committee precedent:

"COVID, substantial personal and family health issues within her family during this time period, and finally wrapping up and closing her accounts, the precedent of the committee has been to provide relief. And I think that that is appropriate."

Committee chairman Jay Jordan, R-Florence, defended the outcome but acknowledged the circumstances: "I think financial (hardship), in my mind, was the least of those issues. There were health issues involving a child, that was a meaningful thing." Jordan added the committee aims to avoid fines so large they deter future candidates from running, regardless of their personal wealth.

Mace's office did not respond to the Post and Courier before publication.

Six months later. In June 2024, the SC Daily Gazette reported that public records showed Mace had still not paid the $1,200 reduced fine. Confronted with those records, she said she had "cut a check this week." See: After records showed she still hadn't paid ethics fine, Rep. Mace says she 'cut a check this week'.

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Sources: Post and Courier, Nick Reynolds (Dec. 14, 2023) · SC Daily Gazette, Jessica Holdman (Dec. 14, 2023) · Post and Courier Editorial (Dec. 20, 2023)