Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.) reportedly could face a major challenge from her former chief of staff, Dan Hanlon.
Mr. Hanlon, who joined Mr. Mace's office in 2021 and was promoted to chief of staff in 2022, held the role until a few weeks ago, while considering a candidacy for his former boss. He is meeting with donors and staff, Politico reported. Republican lawmakers with direct knowledge of the matter spoke on condition of anonymity.
One Republican told Politico, “Mr. Hanlon is concerned about how well this idea has been received, both in Washington, D.C.'s financial circles and in South Carolina's movers and shakers, who are looking for an alternative to Mace.'' “I'm happy with how many people there were,” he said. One Republican also predicted that some of Mace's other staffers might jump to support the Hanlon campaign if it emerged.
Mace caused a particular stir within the party last year when he joined seven other Republicans in voting to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.) speaks before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Getty Images)
Hanlon, who has served in the Trump administration for the past four years, must make a decision on the application by a March 30 deadline.
While primary challengers are not uncommon, it is unusual to bring in someone with such inside knowledge of the candidates vying for the nomination.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace departs from the House Republican Conference at the U.S. Capitol on November 2, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
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After being removed from the chair in October, Mr. McCarthy mentioned Mace in an on-air interview and said he called Mr. Hanlon and asked him “where did you break your promises?”
“The chief of staff said, 'You kept your promise 100 percent,'” McCarthy said. “Her chief of staff told all of us that we have lived up to every word, and he said he told her that too.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R.C.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) present the House of Representatives National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 at the Dirksen Building on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. – Attended Senate committee deliberations. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
Hanlon left Mace's office in early December after Mace had already been vying to name a new chief of staff, four people familiar with the matter told Politico.
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Mace's incoming chief of staff, Rory Catodt, called Capitol Police during the tense scene when Hanlon came to hand over the keys, three people familiar with the matter told the outlet. .
