Nancy Ruth Mace (born December 4, 1977) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2021. Her district includes much of the state's share of the East Coast, from Charleston to Hilton Head Island. In 1999, Mace was the first woman to graduate from the Corps of Cadets program at The Citadel. From 2018 to 2020, she represented the 99th district in the South Carolina House of Representatives, covering Hanahan, northeast Mount Pleasant, and Daniel Island. Mace is the first Republican woman to be elected to Congress from South Carolina. Mace worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. In 2021, she voted against impeaching Trump in relation to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but nevertheless condemned his words and actions before, during, and after the attack. She also voted to hold Trump aide Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the attack. Early life, education, and career Mace was born at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to United States Army officer James Emory Mace and schoolteacher Anne Mace. In 1999 she became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel's Corps of Cadets program, receiving a degree in business administration. Mace wrote In the Company of Men: A Woman at The Citadel (Simon & Schuster, 2001) about that experience. Mace went on to earn a master's degree in journalism and mass communication from the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. In 2008, Mace started a consulting business called The Mace Group. Early political career Mace campaigned for the Republican Party nomination for the United States Senate in South Carolina in the 2014 election. During the campaign, she opposed the Affordable Care Act, saying, "We must use any means possible to repeal, defund and ultimately stop Obamacare." Mace received 19,560 votes, or 6.2% of the total votes cast, in the Republican primary as incumbent Lindsey Graham re-won nomination. Mace worked for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in South Carolina. South Carolina House of Representatives Elections 2017 special On September 18, 2017, Mace filed as a Republican to run in a special election for the South Carolina State House District 99 seat being vacated by Jimmy Merrill, who resigned earlier that month after an indictment and plea deal for several ethics violations. She