Nancy Lacore declares victory in flipping SC’s 1st District

MOUNT PLEASANT — Retired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore claimed the win, albeit a narrow one, in South Carolina’s coastal 1st Congressional District.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we also knew that South Carolinians are frustrated, tired, and looking for some change,” Lacore said at her campaign headquarters in Mount Pleasant Wednesday, after ballot-counting issues delayed results from state election officials the night before.

The race appeared headed for an automatic recount, but by 2:11 a.m., the state Election Commission posted results to its website showing Lacore ahead by 1.01 percentage points, putting her just above the required recount margin under state law.

A little more than 3,300 votes separate Lacore from her Republican opponent, attorney and Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt, according to unofficial results.

Libertarian Bill Reese received 1.6% of the vote. The district spans the lower part of South Carolina’s coastline, including all of Beaufort and Berkeley counties and most of Charleston County.

The delay involved ballots in Dorchester County. Officials had to manually rescan about 5,500 ballots due to a faulty memory stick from the voting machine, according to Kizzie Scott, executive director of the county board of voter registration and elections.

Scott said this issue is not unusual, and all the county’s ballots are now counted.

“This is nothing new. This is not just a Dorchester County thing. The stick can become faulty,” she said.

Lacore said she’s confident in the results, even as The Associated Press has yet to call the election in her favor.

Lacore’s win marks a major victory for Democrats in a seat that was supposed to be safe for Republicans.

Republicans held control of it for nearly 40 years until Joe Cunningham flipped the district in 2018. Cunningham narrowly lost two years later to Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who gave up the seat this year for an unsuccessful bid for governor.

Then, after the 2020 census, legislators redrew the district to favor Republicans. Mace easily won reelection in 2022, when she defeated now-U.S.-senator-elect Annie Andrews by 14 percentage points. In 2024, Mace’s winning margin grew to 17 points.

Mace congratulated Lacore and “all of South Carolina’s newly elected officials” in a statement Wednesday.

“Serving the people of South Carolina is a tremendous responsibility,” Mace said. “I wish each of them success as they begin this next chapter of public service.”

Mace also promised a smooth transition as she leaves office in January and called her time in office “the honor of my lifetime.”

The only public statement Honeycutt has made is an early morning social media post thanking her supporters.

“My prayers now are for the Lowcountry, the state of South Carolina and our nation,” she wrote. “And my commitment to the people I love and the place I call home will never waiver.”

Lacore told reporters she received an email from Honeycutt’s campaign congratulating her and conceding. But Honeycutt’s campaign did not confirm any concession, instead telling the SC Daily Gazette they were still seeking more information from election officials. Lacore’s campaign did not provide the email.

Throughout the election cycle, polls showed the coastal district moving closer to the middle, until the nonpartisan Cook Political Report considered it a “toss-up” for Tuesday night.

Lacore, a political newcomer, pointed to her experience in government as qualification enough for Congress. She started her career as a Navy pilot, before joining the part-time reserve to raise her six children and work as a defense contractor. As head of the reserve, Lacore oversaw about 59,000 sailors and often worked with Congress for resources, including securing new airplanes, she previously said.

She moved to South Carolina last year, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed her from her job as chief of the Navy Reserve with no reason given several months prior. That move, which came as part of a larger pattern of the Trump administration targeting perceived critics of the president, drew national interest.

The 1st District was among at least 32 House seats Democrats picked up nationwide, guaranteeing the party more control of the chamber than the slim majority Republicans held.

“We have a majority in the House. We have a significant majority in the Senate as well. So, I think we’ll have some real power,” Lacore said. “Of course, the president will have the veto authority, but people are ready to make life better in the United States, and I think that’s very clear by the results that we saw from across the country.”