COLUMBIA, June 7 -- Two days before South Carolina Republicans choose their next governor, Nancy Mace is doing something most politicians avoid: explaining exactly what she gave up and why she doesn't regret it.

The congresswoman, running in a six-way Republican primary with the June 9 vote approaching, said in a recent interview that her decision to push for the release of Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein likely killed her chances of receiving Donald Trump's endorsement. "I knew it was on the line when I voted to release the Epstein files, and I'm a survivor," Mace said. "If the price to pay for an endorsement was to not release those files, I would never pay it."

Trump went the other direction. Last week, he backed Lt. Gov....