One of the most attention-getting House races in the nation is in South Carolina's 1st District (Charleston), in which Republican Nancy Mace is locked in a tight battle with freshman Democrat Rep. Joe Cunningham.
Much of the attention on the contest is due to the persona of Mace herself — 42 and a self-styled "single working mother of two," a state representative, and, most notably, the first woman to graduate from the Corps of Cadets at South Carolina's famed Citadel.
She even wrote a book about her experiences at the military college entitled "In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel."
A recent poll conducted by Mace's consultant, Doug Stafford, showed her leading Cunningham 47% to 45% among likely voters districtwide.
Although skeptics pooh-pooh the results as something coming out of the Mace campaign, few observers of the 1st District doubt the race is anything but close.
So far, the Republican challenger has raised $5 million — one of the top three amounts raised for non-incumbent Republican House candidates.
"My opponent didn't vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker, but he votes with her 90% of the time," Mace told Newsmax. "And he says he opposes the 'Green New Deal,' but he supports taxes that would fund the 'Green New Deal.'"
Two years ago, after a bloody GOP primary in which an incumbent congressman was ousted, Cunningham won in November with 50.7% of the vote and thus became the 1st District's first Democrat congressman since 1980.
"And many voters stayed home, so there was a big dropoff from '16 [when President Donald Trump carried the 1st District 53% to 40%]," said Mace. "And this time, they'll come back for the president and for me."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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