CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump has gone 1-for-2 in his endorsements of challengers to incumbent members of Congress from South Carolina.
Rep. Tom Rice, one of just 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Capitol riot, has been defeated in a GOP primary by a Trump-backed challenger.
According to a race call by The Associated Press, South Carolina state Rep. Russell Fry, who had Trump's endorsement, easily topped Rice, a five-term U.S. representative, giving Fry the 7th District's Republican nomination.
In the 1st District, meanwhile, GOP Rep. Nancy Mace bested her Trump-supported challenger, according to the AP.
Fry easily defeats Rice
In South Carolina, a candidate needs to get more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. At the time of the AP's race call, Fry had 51.1%. Rice was at 24.6%.
Rice had refused to back down to the tirades of a former president and from his conviction that Trump is to blame for the Capitol attack.
He told NPR in February, "If we're going to have a scenario where the president can try to intimidate Congress ... we might as well have a monarchy."
Rice even doubled down and said he regretted not voting to certify the presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. That angered many voters and inspired a slew of GOP candidates, including Fry, who wanted to take Rice down. The challengers said he had betrayed the conservative district and the former president.
Trump, meantime, has called the longtime congressman a "coward" and someone "no one trusts." He even gathered supporters in March for a rally in the district Rice represents to deliver a punishing speech and again endorse Fry.
In his campaign, Rice had reminded constituents he voted with Trump more than 90% of the time and helped the former president draft the 2017 GOP tax cut bill.
Fry will face Democrat Daryl Scott in November in the strongly Republican 7th.
Mace wins in the 1st District
Mace, on the other hand, defeated former Rep. Katie Arrington outright in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary. Trump had endorsed Arrington.
At the time of the AP's race call, Mace was above the runoff threshold, at 53%.
Mace angered Trump by criticizing him in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — though she later walked back her critical comments and — unlike Rice — didn't vote to impeach him.
Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, had the backing of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a onetime U.N. ambassador in Trump's administration.
She'll next face Annie Andrews, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
