Former Navy Admiral Wins Dem Primary in South Carolina

A retired Navy admiral dismissed last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has won the Democratic nomination for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, setting up a general election contest that will guarantee a historic outcome for the state. Nancy Lacore, a former vice admiral, secured the Democratic nomination in a runoff election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. She will face Republican nominee Jenny Honeycutt, a Charleston County Council member who won her party's runoff the same evening. The winner will become only the third woman ever elected to the U.S. House from South Carolina.

The seat opened after incumbent Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who first won the district in 2020, lost her bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination earlier this month. The coastal district, which includes Charleston, has been held by Republicans for decades.

Lacore's path to the nomination was defined by her abrupt removal from the Pentagon. In August 2025, she was one of dozens of senior military leaders fired by Hegseth as part of a broad restructuring of Defense Department leadership. Lacore, who served more than three decades in the Navy and was chief of the Navy Reserve, said the...