{"id":4600,"date":"2026-06-24T08:03:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/24\/admiral-fired-in-hegseth-purge-wins-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T08:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:03:55","slug":"admiral-fired-in-hegseth-purge-wins-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4600","title":{"rendered":"Admiral fired in Hegseth purge wins Democratic primary in South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"5aa4102e-42aa-436b-970f-64affa099674\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a naval officer salutes\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/fa31d7be97603fb9e616790bab77875a5a22bd0b\/0_0_4730_3784\/master\/4730.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore salutes after placing a wreath at the statue of the Lone Sailor at the U. Navy Memorial in Washington DC on 3 June 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Shawn Thew\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"5aa4102e-42aa-436b-970f-64affa099674\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore salutes after placing a wreath at the statue of the Lone Sailor at the U. Navy Memorial in Washington DC on 3 June 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Shawn Thew\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Admiral fired in Hegseth purge wins Democratic primary in South Carolina<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Nancy Lacore will spearhead effort to flip Republican House seat in November\u2019s midterm elections<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A three-star navy rear-admiral fired by Pete Hegseth last year in the defense secretary\u2019s purge of senior US military officials has won the Democratic primary in a closely watched congressional race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Nancy Lacore secured the party\u2019s nomination for the US House of Representatives in South Carolina\u2019s first congressional district on Tuesday after defeating Mac Deford, a US Coast Guard veteran, in a runoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Lacore\u2019s focus will now turn to November, when she will lead an ambitious Democratic bid to flip the Republican seat in the US midterm elections.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"c867772d-4170-4300-907c-9ad75efd41f4\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1rx5ky9\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-15vltj4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/09\/pamela-evette-south-carolina-republican-governor-primary\" class=\"dcr-f35c0u\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-vvxpdt\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6z6e7\">\n<div class=\"dcr-zh9rih\">Nancy Mace blames Epstein files backlash as she concedes in South Carolina governor\u2019s race<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-oj13vq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ef9nua\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The district is currently represented by the Republican Nancy Mace, who chose to forgo seeking re-election to focus on her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/09\/pamela-evette-south-carolina-republican-governor-primary\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">failed challenge<\/a> for South Carolina governor. Jenny Costa Honeycutt, a member of Charleston county council, secured the Republican nomination for the election on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Lacore was among dozens of officers fired during Hegseth\u2019s ongoing elimination from senior military roles of those considered to have crossed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Trump administration<\/a>, or who do not fit the US defense secretary\u2019s vision for the makeup of the armed services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">She is backed by several veterans\u2019 groups, and <a href=\"https:\/\/emilyslist.org\/candidate\/nancy-lacore\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Emilys List<\/a>, which supports Democratic pro-choice candidates running for office. She raised $500,000 in her first two weeks as a candidate, and more than $1.4m through late May, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/06\/09\/us\/politics\/nancy-lacore-mace-south-carolina.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New York Times analysis<\/a> of federal campaign finance records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">She is also one of 12 House candidates backed by the Bench, a Democratic strategy group advising candidates in districts seen as harder to win, the outlet said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US news<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/south-carolina\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">South Carolina<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/democrats\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Democrats<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-midterm-elections-2026\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US midterm elections 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Admiral%20fired%20in%20Hegseth%20purge%20wins%20Democratic%20primary%20in%20South%20Carolina&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/23\/admiral-nancy-lacore-democratic-primary-south-carolina?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F23%2Fadmiral-nancy-lacore-democratic-primary-south-carolina&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/23\/admiral-nancy-lacore-democratic-primary-south-carolina\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1pjhtuq\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore salutes after placing a wreath at the statue of the Lone Sailor at the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}