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Democrat Nancy Lacore and Republican Jenny Honeycutt are projected to win their respective primary runoffs and face off in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District this November, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Lacore, a three-star admiral that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired last year, defeated Mac Deford, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and former general counsel of Hilton Head Island, S.C., in the Democratic runoff.
Honeycutt, a member of the Charleston County Council since 2018, defeated state Rep. Mark Smith (R-S.C.) in the GOP runoff.
Lacore and Honeycutt will square off in the race to succeed Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in the House. Mace came up short in her bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Palmetto State earlier this month.
The incumbent representative has represented the district, which stretches along the southeast coast of South Carolina, since January 2021. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the seat from solidly to likely Republican last week, but Honeycutt remains the favorite in the conservative-leaning district.
Lacore served for more than three decades in the Navy, rising from a pilot to vice admiral. She also served as chief of the Navy Reserve for more than a year, before Hegseth removed her and dozens of other military leaders last August.
Lacore has leaned on her service experience and criticized the Washington establishment while on the campaign trail. Her platform focuses on lowering housing costs, expanding healthcare and educational opportunities for veterans and protecting South Carolina’s coast.
Honeycutt, meanwhile, has touted her view that Congress needs to rein in federal spending. The GOP nominee said in an ad she shared earlier this month, “Families balance their budgets. Congress should too.”
The Republican has also focused on the cost of living and border security. As of 2019, the 1st district had the highest median income, at more than $77,100, of the seven districts in South Carolina.
The winner of the general election between Lacore and Honeycutt will become the third woman ever elected to the House in the Palmetto State — after Mace and GOP Rep. Sheri Biggs (S.C.).
Heading into the summer campaign swing, Lacore’s operation has the financial edge. The Democratic nominee’s campaign had more than $279,000 on hand as of June 3, while Honeycutt’s had just over $48,000, according to the Federal Election Commission.
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