Nancy Mace is packing her bags. The firebrand conservative is gunning for the governor’s mansion, leaving South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District wide open. Naturally, the scramble to replace her is already messy. On Tuesday night, the Democratic primary dissolved into a runoff. No candidate cleared the 50% hurdle. Now, retired Navy Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore and local attorney Mac Deford are locked in a June 23 showdown.
It is a steep hill. The district is deep red. Republicans have held this coastal seat since 1981, save for a brief two-year blip when Democrat Joe Cunningham snuck in. Mace herself crushed her last opponent by double digits in 2024. But the Democrats smell blood. Or at least opportunity.
Lacore is leaning heavily on her resume and her grudge. She spent 35 years in the Navy, rising to a three-star admiral before War Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly axed her in August 2025. She calls the firing ‘without cause,’ part of a broader Trump administration purge of military brass. She has cash. Lots of it. Her campaign war chest sits at $1.4 million. She pitches herself as the ultimate outsider. A duty-bound warrior betrayed by partisan hacks.
Deford is taking a different route. He is the local guy. He served as Mount Pleasant’s associate general counsel, dealing with the mundane realities of local government. COVID-19 response. Affordable housing. FEMA money. He has raised a more modest $547,800. He calls it home; he calls himself pragmatic.
Meanwhile, Mace is already looking past Washington. The conservative rebel, famous for helping oust Kevin McCarthy and demanding the Epstein files, wants to bring her brand of chaos back to Columbia. She wants to flip tables. The Democrats just want her seat. Whether a fired admiral or a municipal lawyer can actually pull off that miracle remains to be seen.
