South Carolina — 1st District

MOUNT PLEASANT — Democrat Nancy Lacore and Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt split over their familiarity with the Lowcountry, the war on Iran and how to halt rising prices in the first debate between the two candidates seeking to represent South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

The hour-long Oct. 7 face-off, aired from the WCBD News 2 studio, also had points of agreement, such as the need for guardrails on artificial intelligence technology and local control over data center development.

But the debate still was largely one of contrasts between the two women seeking the coastal seat after U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston ran for governor instead of reelection.

Here are some key takeaways.

Check the resumes

As she has since primary season, Honeycutt, a Charleston County Council member and local attorney, took several opportunities to emphasize her familiarity with the area as a James Island native, which she argued lets her understand its infrastructure needs and its citizens’ concerns.

It also gave her a chance to take a dig at Lacore, a retired Navy vice admiral who moved to Mount Pleasant last year after she was dismissed from her post as Chief of Navy Reserve by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth without explanation.

“I know what makes this district special, first-hand,” Honeycutt said. “And I know why newcomers, like my opponent who moved here last here to run for this seat, are drawn to the area.”

Lacore, who has said she moved here to be closer to family, instead argued that she understands how Washington works from her time at the Pentagon. She has maintained relationships with politicians from both parties that could help her secure funding for the Lowcountry, she said.

And Lacore bristled at dig about her military pension and a suggestion from Honeycutt, late in the debate, that she had been “removed from the table,” which she took as referencing her dismissal by Hegseth.

“We can talk about why I was removed from my position, but frankly, as someone who has never worn the uniform, my opponent has no basis on which to place judgment on what happened to me,” she said.

Prices and the pump

The dramatic voiceover that began WCBD’s television coverage invoked rising prices and stretched paychecks, and questions from the moderators followed suit, pressing the candidates on taxes, inflation and health care costs.

Both agreed on the necessity of a temporary suspension of gas taxes. But they differed over the broader causes of inflation, which Honeycutt pegged to the national debt and government spending while Lacore blamed tariffs levied by President Donald Trump and the war in Iran.

Honeycutt defended some tariffs, such as the ones that Century Aluminum in Berkeley County has cheered for expanding its production, but said she disagreed with the president on others. Trump endorsed her after she won the Republican primary.

“I support tariffs that work,” Honeycutt said.

And she argued later that the economy isn’t in as bad of a state as some say, calling it “very healthy,” albeit uncertain, and pointed to record gains in the stock market and low unemployment — a line Lacore pounced on to hit Honeycutt for her stock in AI-related companies. Honeycutt said the investments are managed by someone else, and both women agreed on banning members of Congress from trading stocks.

Lacore was also eager to turn discussions of inflation to the Middle East and the war in Iran. She framed the conflict as a “war of choice” that never should have started but is now stuck without an exit plan, and maintained that her opponent supports it.

“I have been in war. I have sent people into war. This should have never happened,” Lacore said.

For Honeycutt, though, the intervention was a necessary move by the president to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

She emphasizing there should be “no endless wars” and that she wants the conflict to end as soon as Iran doesn’t have any nuclear capabilities, needling Lacore on whether she was equally opposed to an atomic Tehran.

Lacore, in turn, pointed to comments from Trump in 2025 that strikes then had eliminated the nation’s nuclear program.

“What choice did we have?” Honeycutt asked.

On health care, Lacore said she supported rolling back cuts to Medicaid and allowing Medicare to negotiate over drug prices. Honeycutt said the government should keep its promises to current Medicaid recipients, but it needs to take a “hard look” at programs for people coming into the workforce.

Culture warfare

While social issues haven’t been as big a factor in the Lowcountry race as in the U.S. Senate campaign, for instance, the two candidates differed on subjects such as abortion and immigration.

Lacore repeated her stance that restrictions on abortion should return to the standard set by the Roe v. Wade decision, invoking the importance of family planning in allowing her to have a Navy career and raise six children.

Honeycutt said she opposes legal abortion except for in cases of rape, incest or a danger to the mother’s life. She also referenced her personal history, telling the story of how she learned she was pregnant in college and struggled to balance law school with childrearing.

“When I talk about being pro-life, it’s because I believe every life has purpose, meaning and value,” she said.

When pressed on whether the federal government should require local police to assist their immigration enforcement efforts, Honeycutt said she supports the local partnerships, known as the 287(g) program, while Lacore said the local officials should be more concerned with local issues.