COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – The race to become South Carolina’s next Governor is underway, and it’s stacked with some of the state’s most talked about Republicans. As of today, five Republicans are now running to be South Carolina’s next Governor, and the race is already getting personal.

On Monday, Congresswoman Nancy Mace announced her candidacy, and took a shot at Attorney General Alan Wilson, who announced his candidacy for governor in June.

“Our Attorney General, Alan Wilson, pled down to one indictment. He [Donald Gresh] was facing 60 years, negotiated down on the AG, negotiated Donald Gresh sentencing in 15 minutes,” Mace said.

Mace is referring to a South Carolina case involving Donald Gresh, a convicted child predator. She claims Wilson’s office didn’t do enough to ensure a tougher sentence.

In a statement, Wilson’s campaign claimed the attack was an attempt to distract from her own record.

“For months, she’s tried to distract from her own abysmal record by falsely attacking Alan Wilson, but the facts speak for themselves…Nancy Mace again lied about Alan Wilson,” said the statement. “The truth is, Alan Wilson has no control over judges’ sentences.”

Wilson is positioning himself as the candidate of law and order.

“Together, we fought to keep people safe, uphold the rule of law and protect our freedoms,” he said.

Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette is campaigning on experience by Governor Henry McMaster’s side.

“This is not just my campaign. This is our movement. A movement that started when we decided South Carolina would lead and not follow. A movement that became stronger,” Evette said.

Congressmen Ralph Norman is backed by some of the most conservative people in Washington D.C.

“We will finally fix our crumbling roads and bridges. South Carolina leads the nation in 50% of our roads that need to be rebuilt,” he said.

And State Senator Josh Kimbrell is talking a lot about family. He is involved in a lawsuit that he said is fake allegations.

“I’m a two term Senate now, second term Senator, so anything I do gets more scrutiny. So, it’s much easier to make ridiculous fake allegations and go throw this crap into the media and people eat it all up,” Kimbrell said.

A recent survey conducted by Targoz Market Research for the South Carolina Policy Council polled 1,200 registered South Carolina voters statewide between July 21 and July 25.

According to the results, Mace leads Wilson by 1% – well within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 2.77%.

Official filing for candidates won’t open for months. The South Carolina Election Commission says the filing period runs from noon on March 16 to noon on March 30.