The Post Reported Mace Warned Her Nephew Over Alan Wilson's Endorsement. Then She Endorsed Wilson
The Washington Post reported that on May 1, 2025, at a JD Vance event, Rep. Nancy Mace pointed a finger in the face of her nephew, Berkeley County Republican chairman John Mace McGrath, and told him, 'You f*cked up taking Alan's endorsement, and you're going to pay for that someday.' Mace did not respond to the Post. On June 9, 2026, after finishing fifth for governor, she endorsed Alan Wilson herself. Here is what the record shows about McGrath in that race.
Sunday, November 15, 2026.
The report
The Washington Post (Natalie Allison, June 10, 2026) reported that on May 1, 2025, at Vice President JD Vance's visit to Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, S.C., Rep. Nancy Mace confronted her nephew, John Mace McGrath, who had been elected chairman of the Berkeley County Republican Party that April. According to the Post, she pointed a finger in his face and upbraided him for accepting an endorsement in his chairman's race from state Attorney General Alan Wilson. The Post quoted her:
You f*cked up taking Alan's endorsement, and you're going to pay for that someday.
The Post's account rests on two people who witnessed it and spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to draw more of Mace's anger. It was not captured on camera. The Post said Mace did not respond to requests for comment. We found no other outlet that has reported the exchange.
Vance did thank 'Congresswoman Mace' from the podium that day, at 1:21 in the Factbase video of his remarks.
Who he is
McGrath won the Berkeley County GOP chairmanship at the county convention in April 2025; Live 5 reported that he 'won more than enough delegates.' His campaign website says he is a graduate of The Citadel and a U.S. Army officer from Hanahan. The Post calls him Mace's nephew.
That website's endorsements page lists backers by level. Under 'Federal Officials' there is one tile: 'Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Berkeley County's U.S. Rep.' Alan Wilson and no other statewide officeholder is listed. We do not know when the tile was added, and nothing we found says whether Mace knew of Wilson's endorsement when she backed his run.
What Mace said about Wilson
On Aug. 6, 2025, as a declared candidate for governor, Mace told reporters in Charleston, in video from Forbes Breaking News:
And I can't wait to hit the debate stage with him because I'm going to run circles around Alan Wilson. You can tell him I said that.
Her remarks that day included harsher charges against Wilson and his family. They are not part of this story, and we do not repeat them.
On June 9, 2026, after finishing fifth in the Republican primary for governor, Mace conceded and endorsed Wilson. In the WTOC video of her speech:
Alan Wilson and I have buried the hatchet. We called it hashtag reset.
She went on to say she had talked with Wilson about her own case. Then:
So tonight, I want you to know that I'm going to endorse Alan Wilson for governor.
McGrath and the governor's race
We looked for any sign of what McGrath did in the primary. This is what we found, and what we did not.
- The bylaws. The Berkeley County Republican Party's bylaws (Revision 9, adopted March 19, 2026) say the chairman 'May not, in an official capacity, publicly endorse or financially support any candidate in any partisan election contested by more than one Republican candidate.' The June 9 governor primary had six Republicans. The revision log for the two prior revisions lists no change to that rule.
- One rival hosted. In June 2025 the county party announced that state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who had just declared for governor, would speak at its July 5 monthly breakfast. ABC News 4 quoted McGrath: 'Senator Kimbrell is one of South Carolina's leading conservative voices and a true fighter for freedom.' We found no report of the party hosting Mace, Wilson, Pamela Evette, Ralph Norman or Rom Reddy. That is a limit of our search, not a finding.
- No endorsement found. We found no public endorsement by McGrath of any candidate for governor, including his aunt, and no public statement from him about the Post's account.
- The county vote. The Berkeley Observer, reproducing State Election Commission results at 100 percent of precincts, shows the Republican governor primary in Berkeley County: Alan Wilson 29.64 percent (5,105 votes), Pamela Evette 23.70 (4,082), Nancy Mace 19.09 (3,289), Rom Reddy 15.32 (2,639), Ralph Norman 10.58 (1,823). Statewide she finished fifth, with about 12 percent in early counts (Newsweek). In his own county she was third.
- On camera. Days after the primary, McGrath appeared on Live 5's We the Palmetto with Dorchester County GOP chairman C.J. Westfall. Asked how Wilson swept the Lowcountry, he credited Wilson's television ads about his combat service and the sheriffs' endorsements, then said, at 6:03 in the episode:
I'm not surprised. I'm even more surprised at how poorly Nancy Mace did.
What this shows, and what it does not
The scene on May 1, 2025 rests on one outlet and two unnamed witnesses, and Mace did not respond. Nothing here confirms the words were said.
What the record does show is narrower. The county party's rules bar its chairman from endorsing in a contested primary. He welcomed one other governor candidate to a party breakfast. We found no endorsement from him. His county gave his aunt third place, and he told a television audience her result surprised him. Mace, who by the Post's account warned him over Wilson's endorsement, endorsed Wilson herself on the night she lost.
McGrath is a county party official and a member of her family. This story stays with his public role.
Video and credit
The Short above uses video from Forbes Breaking News, WTOC and Live 5 News, and Factbase footage of the Vance event, each credited on screen, with an AI-generated narration voice. The quote card is ours. Every source is linked above.
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