Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral who was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, won the Democratic nomination for the First Congressional District of South Carolina, according to The Associated Press.
Ms. Lacore defeated Mac Deford, a Coast Guard veteran who was previously the general counsel for the town of Hilton Head Island.
Now, Ms. Lacore faces a difficult task: flipping a seat currently held by a Republican, Representative Nancy Mace, who ran unsuccessfully for governor instead of seeking re-election. The coastal district was redrawn in 2021 to be more reliably Republican. Ms. Mace won re-election by double-digit percentages in each of her past two elections.
But Democrats, who view Ms. Lacore’s military biography as a potentially game-changing asset, are still eyeing the seat despite how difficult it may be to flip. House Majority PAC, the main House Democratic super PAC, has reserved $2.1 million in the district for the fall, according to AdImpact, a media tracking platform.
“We look forward to supporting the Democratic candidate in SC-01,” said CJ Warnke, a spokesman for House Majority PAC.
Ms. Lacore has a higher-than-average profile for a political newcomer. Last August, Mr. Hegseth fired her after 35 years in the Navy. She has said she was given no cause for the firing, which came at a time when Mr. Hegseth was removing military officials who had delivered intelligence assessments that angered President Trump.
Her national profile has helped her become a successful fund-raiser. She raised $500,000 in her first two weeks as a candidate and raised more than $1.6 million through late June, according to federal campaign finance records.
She also has the backing of several outside groups. VoteVets, the liberal political action committee known for supporting veterans running for office, spent about $100,000 on ads supporting Ms. Lacore during the primary.
The Bench, a group led by longtime Democratic strategists that recruits and advises candidates in both traditional battleground districts and contests that are seen as harder to win, spent about $65,000 in support of Ms. Lacore during the primary. Both are indications that the well-funded groups may continue to back Ms. Lacore in the general election.
