Nancy Mace

CHARLESTON — What type of candidate should replace Nancy Mace in Congress?

Republican and Democratic voters in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District reached very different conclusions in the June 9 primaries.

Democrats advanced two military veterans to their June 23 runoff. Republicans elevated two elected officials to theirs.

The outcome came in one of the state's most military-connected congressional districts, a swath through the S.C. Lowcountry which is home to more than 66,000 veterans.

It also comes as a growth crunch is hitting the region where residents are looking to their elected officials to bring veteran management experience.

Political scientists said the contrasting runoff fields reflect the unique realities of running in one of South Carolina's most-competitive congressional districts and also part of broader trends reshaping congressional campaigns nationwide.

In the Republican race, Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt will face state Rep. Mark Smith, R-Daniel Island.

On the Democratic side, Nancy Lacore, a retired Navy rear admiral who was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will face Mac Deford, an attorney and former Coast Guard officer who previously sought the seat.

The four candidates who survived their crowded party contests June 9 arrived at that point through different paths.

Honeycutt and Smith entered the race with something no Democratic candidate in the field possessed: a record in elected office.

The candidates

Honeycutt was first elected to Charleston County Council in 2018 after campaigning on transportation and growth issues.

She also comes from a family deeply rooted in Republican politics. Her mother, Cindy Costa, is a longtime Republican National Committeewoman.

Smith, the CEO of McAlister-Smith Funeral Homes, was elected to the S.C. House in 2020 to succeed Mace after her election to Congress. Before that, he served on Mount Pleasant Town Council.

Lacore and Deford took a different route.

A retired Navy rear admiral, Lacore spent 35 years in the military and ultimately led the Navy Reserve, overseeing roughly 59,000 sailors worldwide.

She launched her congressional campaign this year after being removed from her post by Hegseth as part of a broader shakeup of senior military leadership.

No longer tethered to a job in Washington, D.C., she moved to Mount Pleasant with her husband last fall to be closer to family.

Deford, a Citadel graduate, served in the Coast Guard before becoming an attorney.

He narrowly missed winning the Democratic nomination two years ago, falling 684 votes short of Michael Moore, who in turn was defeated by Mace that November.

DuBose Kapeluck, a political science professor at The Citadel, said the Democratic outcome may reflect the realities of competing in a district that has long favored Republicans.

The coastal seat includes all of Beaufort and Berkeley counties — Republican strongholds — as well as parts of Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and Jasper counties.

Because Democrats remain a minority party across much of the district, he said, military credentials can help candidates appeal to voters beyond the party's traditional base.

"I think being in the military gives an impression of somebody who is conservative or moderate, or at least not a sort of wild-eyed liberal," DuBose said.

That perception can be particularly valuable in a district where military service is common and often viewed favorably across party lines.

Trends among candidates

The outcome also mirrors broader trends in congressional politics.

Jordan Ragusa, a political scientist at the College of Charleston, pointed to research by political scientists Rachel Porter and Sarah Treul showing that candidates without prior elected experience are running for and winning congressional office more often than they did two decades ago — a trend driven largely by primary elections.

"What's surprising, though, is inexperienced candidates are more likely to run and win on the Democratic side than the Republican side," Ragusa said.

That pattern was evident in South Carolina's 1st District, where Democratic voters advanced two candidates who have never held elected office.

The result also comes as veterans are seeking federal office in record numbers nationwide.

According to a June 9 report from With Honor Action, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy organization, some 752 veterans have run or are running for federal office this cycle, the highest number the organization has tracked since 2018.

The increase has been driven in part by a surge in Democratic veteran candidates, a notable shift from previous cycles when veteran candidates were more likely to run as Republicans.

Yet Republican primary voters reached a different conclusion.

They bypassed Alex Pelbath, an Air Force pilot who flew the last U.S. military aircraft out of Afghanistan, and instead advanced two local elected officials with years of experience in government along with name ID and reliable constituencies to battle it out for the GOP nomination.

Political scientists said that result reflects a different dynamic, part of the S.C. GOP’s deep bench of candidates who have already won elected office and built constituencies.

Research has consistently found that candidates with prior elected experience are more likely to win office than political newcomers, whether because voters prefer proven officeholders or because former officeholders know how to build successful campaigns.

"Former candidates, people who've won office before, well, they know how to win," DuBose said.