Three-star Navy admiral fired by Pete Hegseth wins Democratic Primary in South Carolina
A three-star Navy rear-admiral, Nancy Lacore, who was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year during his purge of senior U.S. military officials, won the Democratic primary in a closely watched congressional race on Tuesday. She secured the party’s nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in South Carolina’s first congressional district after defeating Mac Deford, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, in a primary runoff.
Starting a Congressional campaign in February, Lacore worked for the last four months leaning on her service experience while criticizing the administration. His campaign focuses on lowering housing costs, expanding healthcare and educational opportunities for veterans, while protecting the coast of South Carolina. During her campaign, Lacore urged her voters to fight the Republican majority, but she made it clear that it is not all about Trump. "I mean, a lot has changed since he came into office, and none of it's good. So I think people are just tired of the chaos that we see in D.C. and that we feel every day here in the Lowcountry. And I think that's going to help us," Lacore said on her campaign trail, according to an NBC News affiliate. Now her focus will be on an uphill battle to flip the Republican stronghold in the November midterm elections.
Lacore served for over three decades in the Navy, rising through the ranks from a pilot to vice admiral, according to The Hill. She further served as chief of the Navy Reserve for more than a year before the defense secretary removed her, along with dozens of other military leaders, last August. While, according to the New York Times, Lacore has said she was not given a reason for her termination, it is widely reported that Hegseth eliminated those considered to have crossed President Donald Trump's administration.
She is backed by several veterans’ groups and Emily's List, which supports Democratic pro-choice candidates running for office, as per the Times. She successfully raised $500,000 in her first two weeks as a candidate and over $1.4 million through the end of May. She is also one of 12 House candidates backed by the Bench, a Democratic strategy group advising candidates in districts that are considered harder to flip, as per the publication.
On the other hand, Republican Jenny Honeycutt, a member of the Charleston County Council since 2018, won the GOP runoff against Rep. Mark Smith. She and Lacore will now face each other in the race to succeed Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in the House, who came up short in her bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Palmetto State earlier this month. The incumbent had held the seat since January 2021. While the outlook for Lacore has turned a bit positive as the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the seat from solidly to likely Republican last week, Honeycutt remains the lead runner in the conservative-leaning district. The winner of the general election will become the third woman ever to be elected to the House in the Palmetto state after Mace and GOP Rep. Sheri Biggs.
