Part of: Musgrave v. Mace (2:25-cv-01823-RMG) · The 2026 South Carolina Senate Special Election · 2026 Governor Campaign
So he can go fly a kite
Rep. William Timmons called his South Carolina colleagues 'thirsty' for eyeing Sen. Lindsey Graham's seat within 24 hours of his death and said he cannot support Nancy Mace or Ralph Norman. Mace's response, captured by Fox Carolina: 'So he can go fly a kite.'
Five days after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. William Timmons -- a close ally of the late senator -- delivered a pointed message to colleagues already angling for the open seat: he won't be supporting either Rep. Nancy Mace or Rep. Ralph Norman.
Mace had a three-word answer for him.
Fox Carolina / WHNS captured Mace's response on July 16, 2026.
Mace's full statement, verbatim:
"I'm not a candidate for anything. I mean, if I were, I would lose one vote, you know? So I can't help the way some people don't like honest, truthful, hard-working conservatives, which is what I am. So he can go fly a kite."
The backdrop: Graham, who died July 11 after winning the Republican primary in June with 56.8% of the vote, had represented South Carolina in the Senate since 2003. A special primary is scheduled for August 11. The filing window opens July 21 and closes July 28.
Timmons, speaking the day before, said it "rubbed me the wrong way" that within 24 hours of Graham's death, colleagues were already signaling interest in the vacancy. He described the rush as people being "so thirsty for attention" and said plainly that he cannot support Mace or Norman -- pointing out that both had run for governor in June's primary and lost.
Mace's self-aware dig -- "I would lose one vote" -- is an acknowledgment of exactly that critique. She has not formally announced a Senate bid. Filing opens in five days.
Nancy Mace has not announced a candidacy for the Senate seat as of the date of this dispatch. Any Senate run would be subject to the July 28 filing deadline.
Sources & related coverage
- Fox Carolina / WHNS video: Mace responds to Timmons
- Fox Carolina: Rep. William Timmons addresses speculation on possible run for Graham's Senate seat
- Fox News: Graham ally rips 'thirsty' Republicans jockeying to replace late senator
- FITSNews: William Timmons -- Graham Succession Drama Could Imperil GOP Majority
- Washington Examiner: Graham ally questions GOP politicians eyeing replacement bid
- CNBC: Who will replace Lindsey Graham in the Senate?
Read next
August 23, 2026 · DispatchNancy Mace's Top 5 Political Failures: dead last for governor, the Speaker she toppled for nothing, and one law in nine years, a post office
A catalog of the record. Across nine years in office Nancy Mace built a national brand and almost no results to match it. She finished dead last, fifth of five, in the 2026 Republican primary for governor. She helped throw out a sitting Speaker of the House and got a more MAGA Speaker, three weeks of paralysis, and a revenge primary for her trouble. She lost to Lindsey Graham the one time she ran against him, in 2014, then talked herself out of his seat in 2026 after polling at 10 percent. Of the 192 bills she has sponsored, the only ones enacted rename post offices. And the Trump endorsement she remade her whole career to win went, twice, to her opponents. Every figure and quote below is public and dated.
July 28, 2026 · Dispatch'He believed that showing up mattered': Mace issues a press release as every other SC House Republican attends Graham's funeral
On July 28, 2026, Sen. Lindsey Graham's casket lay in the US Capitol Rotunda and then was carried to Washington National Cathedral for his funeral. Every other South Carolina House Republican was there. Rep. Sheri Biggs and Rep. Joe Wilson presented wreaths at his casket. Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman accompanied the South Carolina delegation. Rep. Nancy Mace, who spent two weeks publicly weighing a run for Graham's Senate seat and publicly clashing with him during his lifetime, did not attend. Her office issued a press release statement instead. Filing for the special election primary closed at noon the same day.
July 20, 2026 · Dispatch"I'm not chasing another title, I'm chasing justice": Nancy Mace rules out the Senate race, and with it, public office
On July 20, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace announced in a 64-second video on X that she will not enter the special election for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's Senate seat. 'I want to be straight with you. I'm not running for the US Senate, not because I'm backing down from a fight, but because the one I'm already in matters right now.' The announcement came three days after President Trump endorsed Graham's sister, interim Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, for the full term. Combined with her June 10 decision not to seek re-election to the House, Mace is now set to leave public office when her term ends in January 2027. This dispatch reproduces the video statement in full, verbatim, alongside the separate written statement she posted with it.
August 26, 2026 · DispatchNorman snubs Mace: no mention, no thank-you at all in his concession speech. She broke with Trump to endorse him.
Rep. Ralph Norman lost the South Carolina Republican U.S. Senate runoff to Sen. Darline Graham Nordone on August 25, 2026, and conceded in Rock Hill. In the roughly six-minute speech he thanked a dozen supporters and endorsers by name: Mark Sanford, Dan Bishop, Pat Harrigan, Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Nikki Haley, Adam Morgan, and more. One name never came up: Nancy Mace. Five weeks earlier, Mace broke publicly with President Trump to endorse Norman, calling him a warrior who 'doesn't bend, doesn't break, and doesn't back down,' and Norman had thanked her on camera and in writing as 'a fearless conservative fighter.' When it counted, on the night the race ended, he did not mention her once. We transcribed the full concession to confirm it: zero mentions of Mace.
August 22, 2026 · DispatchNancy Mace says she is "now regretting" not running for the Senate. She finished fifth of five for governor, then ruled herself out of this very seat.
In an August 21, 2026 episode of her Facebook show 'Get Maced,' Rep. Nancy Mace watches a rival in the South Carolina U.S. Senate runoff and says, 'I'm now regretting I'm not running for the US Senate.' The line lands against her own recent record. Ten weeks earlier she finished fifth of five in the June 9 Republican gubernatorial primary with 12.1 percent. When Lindsey Graham's Senate seat then opened, she polled at 10 percent, tied for third, and on July 20 she publicly ruled herself out. This dispatch sets her on-camera regret next to the results and polling she is regretting.
July 21, 2026 · DispatchOne day after quitting the race, Nancy Mace endorses Ralph Norman and snubs Trump's pick for Graham's Senate seat
One day after ruling out her own Senate bid, Rep. Nancy Mace endorsed Rep. Ralph Norman for the South Carolina special election on July 21, 2026, breaking publicly with President Trump, who had endorsed Lindsey Graham's sister Darline Graham Nordone on July 17. Norman accepted the endorsement while pledging to 'stand with President Trump,' the same president whose candidate he and Mace are now both running against. Filing opens today and closes July 28, with the primary set for August 11.