Thread by @IAmNickReynolds

I'm here from the Goose Creek VFW, waiting for a town hall with @RepNancyMace.

It's Mace's first full-scale, in-person town hall since Veterans Day 2021 in Beaufort, 17th overall.

Mace arrives at 6:05. Smaller turnout than I expected. Only a few dozen people here, not including the news cameras. (Just three).

Gregory Habib, the Mayor of Goose Creek, introduces the Goose Creek native (and Stratford High grad) with a speech about civility.

"I don't really care for what's happened in American politics lately," he says.

Mace's parents are also in attendance.

Starting with her story -- dropping out of school in '95, and going to work at the Waffle House a half-mile up the road from here. It's also where she learned she was accepted at the Citadel.

She's giving her first annual report, noting she pledged to run her office "like a business." (Copies were distributed at the front desk ahead of time.)

Said she held 1,000 meetings last year, returning $5 million in the form of IRS refunds or V.A. benefits.

"The last 24 hours has been pretty wild," she says, as she transitions into Ukraine.

Notes many soldiers in the Lowcountry are likely to be shipped into the region before discussing her committee work, including her challenges in trying to amend the infrastructure package.

"It was frustrating as someone on TNI trying to get money to our district," she says. "We have to build consensus. Roads and bridges are not red and blue."

Criticizes the price tag of the package, and the ensuing inflation that resulted from that spending.

"I thought we could do more with less," she said, noting that she ultimately voted against it. "It was frustrating we couldn't work on a piece of legislation together."

We're now entering the Q&A portion of the night. Not sure what to expect. Anyone could sign up, no questions were screened.

The first question is why she continued to support vaccine mandates, (which she doesn't).

Says mandates are issued at the local level, typically.

Mace has had COVID twice, she said. The first round was a serious case, she said, and is now fully vaccinated. Also got omicron in January.

"I send my kid to school in a mask, I wear a mask sometimes. It's my choice. I don't want the govt. telling you what to do."

Adds she's vaccinated but her kids aren't, and that she wants to see more research done before she does.

She got a question about taxes on military retirement pay from a retired military member and then, a military spouse, whose late husband had difficulty accessing his benefits.

Another asking why she hasn't "spoken out about parental rights" and the group Moms for Liberty.

Said that she's sponsored bills on issues like CRT and mandates. "I don't support those things and I don't support them in our schools."

This is really relaxed so far. Someone now asking a basic question: if Congress has the ability to overturn executive orders. (She says they do not, but they can... it's just really complicated.) usa.gov/how-laws-are-m….

Now a question on inflation.

Mace said her concerns with the implications of the infrastructure package -- inflation and new taxes -- were why she opposed it. Adds she's working on measures to reduce those impacts.

"They are trying to spend us back into oblivion," she says.

Now a question on her States Reform Act, aka her marijuana decriminalization bill.

She's just explaining the bill, but @TomNovelly wrote a good piece on this. postandcourier.com/politics/scs-n…

Hopes this will get a hearing this year, and feels it has better chances than the Dems' bill.

One woman says she supported her in the last primary and will support her if she wins this primary, but asks why she didn't answer a letter from the Berkeley GOP.

Mace cuts her off, noting this is an official event and she can't talk campaigns or politics.

Another Q raises concerns about sponsoring a cannabis reform bill when she represents a conservative state.

Mace notes that Republicans have been a recent leader on cannabis reform, citing the success @SenTomDavisSC has had with his medical cannabis bill in the statehouse.

"I'm here in South Carolina because legalized marijuana ruined Colorado," the woman said.

"South Carolina is not trying to legalize marijuana," Mace said.

A young woman in attendance is asking about the death of H.R. 475 -- the Healthcare Fairness for Military Families Act of 2021.

Said she has a chronic illness, with a $50,000 bill every few weeks. Said this could save her family $500 a month.

She said that it might have died because nobody knew about it. And Mace didn't either.

Asks her to send the bill along so they can figure out how it died, and contemplate reintroducing it in a future session.

Another spending and inflation question.

We're now getting real heavy into a dialogue on why Congress hasn't pursued Rand Paul's "Penny Plan."

"We've got to be strong again. We've got to have a strong economy if we ever have to go to war again, and hopefully that's not anytime soon," she said.

One man asking what the GOP plans to do when it retakes the House and Senate, noting the ineffectiveness of Paul Ryan as Speaker.

Mace said Rs have not done anything with their majority, and have actually contributed to deficit spending, higher taxes and more regulation.

"I don't want to be party to just doing things the same old way," she said. "We have to make some tough decisions. I would love to see something like the penny plan actually happen."

Says our economy has put the nation in a more precarious place at a challenging time.

"If they don't come up with a plan, I'm going to come up with a plan," she said of Republican leadership. "We can't just sit on the sidelines and do nothing."

Praises former President Donald Trump's work cutting regulations to make the U.S. more competitive.

One individual talking about some friends who were harboring some frustrations from "promises" she made on Jan. 6.

"In the days and weeks leading up to Jan. 6, I had multiple threats on me," she said.

Said she was accosted on the streets of D.C., that it was difficult to see neighbors acting like that.

"I'm going to tell people what I believe and where I stand," she said. "I don't want there to be any doubt on that."

Said her kids' friends have blocked them on Tik Tok because "their mom's a conservative Republican."

Said even a member of her family came after her after that.

"I'm not a wallflower," she said. "You're going to know where I stand."

"You're a constitutionalist?" one woman asked. "Then why do we still have American citizens being held in jail without a speedy trial?"

Mace said that if people's due process rights are being violated, she will support them. But only two members of her district were arrested.

Notes she didn't vote to impeach former President Trump because she didn't want to take his due process rights away.

Talking about her belief in civil rights, and is referencing Goose Creek resident Jamal Sutherland, who was killed by corrections officers.

She turns down another question, saying it's a political question she is not allowed to answer.

Another woman has a few questions she submitted, but Mace is reading through and saying she can't answer most of them -- including one if she agrees with Trump's comments on Putin.

"I haven't seen the clip," she said. "It's been a pretty busy day."

One man says he voted for Mace in the last election and even had a sign, until it was stolen.

He asks why she voted to certify the election results showing Biden won. Mace explaining that doing so would have been unconstitutional, and that she did not want to set the precedent.

"Does that allow Vice President Kamala Harris to overturn the Electoral College?" she asks. "It goes both ways."

"The Constitution isn't perfect," she adds. "But it's damn-near perfect."

Says that the states that saw irregularities need to solve them on their own, adding she rejected HR-1 because she believes so strongly that election administration should be up to the states.

"Why did you blame President Trump for Jan. 6?" he asks.

"Rhetoric can lead to violence," she said. Notes her car was keyed last year, her house spray painted. "I carry a gun everywhere I go."

Says we need to take the temperature down.

"We need to be careful about how we talk about things," she added. "I think words matter."

We got a question about Tesla dealership franchise licenses!

Didn't see that one coming but then again... Charleston is a hub in the automotive industry.

That's a wrap. Gonna go do some reporting real quick, but will have a recap later this evening.