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By Steven Frank
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Democrat Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is projected to flip a Republican-held House seat in South Carolina, likely delivering Democrats a striking victory in a district President Donald Trump won comfortably just two years ago.
Decision Desk HQ projected Lacore would defeat Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District race for the seat held by Republican Representative Nancy Mace, who gave it up to launch an unsuccessful campaign for governor.
Lacore led by more than 3,300 votes, 49.65 percent to 48.64 percent, according to unofficial results. The Associated Press had not called the contest as of Wednesday afternoon.
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The Democrat said Wednesday that Honeycutt's campaign had contacted her to concede the race. Honeycutt also issued a statement thanking her supporters and saying her "commitment to the people I love and the place I call home will never waver."
"The voters of the Lowcountry have spoken, and they've made their choice clear. I'm honored to be the next Congresswoman from South Carolina's First Congressional District," Lacore said in a statement to WSAV.
Newsweek contacted the campaigns of Lacore and Honeycutt for additional comment Wednesday.
Her projected victory comes little more than a year after Hegseth removed her as chief of the Navy Reserve, ending her 35-year military career.
The result also represents a striking political reversal for Hegseth: The admiral he removed from one of the Navy's most senior posts made his leadership of the Pentagon an issue in her campaign and is now poised to represent a district Trump carried by 13 percentage points in 2024.
From Navy Admiral to Congress
Lacore, a retired three-star vice admiral, began her Navy career as a helicopter pilot and eventually became chief of the Navy Reserve, overseeing approximately 60,000 sailors. She also completed two deployments over more than three decades in uniform.
Hegseth removed her from that position in August 2025. No reason was publicly given for her dismissal, which came amid a series of removals of senior military officers under Hegseth.
Lacore subsequently turned that military record into a central part of her congressional campaign.
She also turned the man who fired her into a political foil. Lacore repeatedly criticized Hegseth's management of the military and said that politics and religion were being thrust into the armed forces.
"People are just concerned about the injection of politics and religion into the military," Lacore told USA Today before the election. "People who know the military know there is no place for either of those. It weakens the fabric that makes our military strong."
She repeatedly attacked Hegseth's stewardship of the Pentagon and criticized his handling of the Iran war. She also leaned on her national security background during the campaign in a district that has traditionally favored Republicans.
The political terrain made her showing particularly notable. Trump carried the district by 13 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, while Mace has represented it since 2021. Republicans, including Senator Tim Scott and former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, have also represented the coastal district.
"In a district Donald Trump won by 13 points just two years ago, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents came together to demand something better from Washington," Lacore said in her statement.
"We have a lot of work to do in Congress and change isn't going to happen overnight. But I will always be focused on serving with integrity and results."
What Lacore's Win Could Mean for Hegseth
Lacore's projected victory could turn one of Hegseth's high-profile personnel decisions into a continuing political problem for the defense secretary. The former admiral he removed from command would return to Washington with a congressional platform from which she could continue challenging his leadership of the Pentagon.
It also gives Democrats a powerful example to point to as they intensify their attacks on Hegseth: Lacore won in Republican territory after criticizing his Pentagon leadership as part of her campaign. Before the election, Hegseth had become a Democratic target over his management of the Pentagon and the Iran war.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries went so far as to tell a campaign rally crowd that a Democratic majority would "run Hegseth out of town."
Democrats Targeted a Republican Seat
The race had become increasingly competitive in its final days.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the district from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up" as Lacore substantially outraised Honeycutt, a Charleston County Council member. Campaign finance reports showed Lacore raising about $4.8 million compared with just under $1.3 million for Honeycutt.
Lacore first had to survive a competitive Democratic primary. She defeated Coast Guard veteran Mac Deford in a June runoff to win the party's nomination.
Mace, meanwhile, chose not to seek reelection to Congress and instead ran for governor. She finished fifth in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Mace congratulated Lacore on Wednesday, calling her "Congresswoman-elect" and saying her office was committed to ensuring a smooth transition.
The departure of Mace left Republicans defending a district that had been redrawn to favor the GOP. Democrat Joe Cunningham previously represented the seat for a single term before Mace defeated him in 2020.
Lacore's projected victory would return the district to Democratic hands despite its strong recent Republican lean.
It would also turn Hegseth's decision to fire Lacore into an extraordinary political turnabout.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins
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