A former senior Navy official who was removed from her post by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year is running for Congress, launching a Democratic bid for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
Nancy Lacore, a retired three-star admiral who served 35 years in the Navy as a helicopter pilot and later as chief of the Navy Reserve, announced her candidacy Tuesday.
“After decades of service to our country, a career that started as a Navy pilot and finished as a three-star admiral, I was removed from my position without cause,” Lacore wrote in a post on X. “I still have more to give, more to fight for, more work to do — and I am not done serving.”
Lacore was removed from her position in August, alongside Rear Adm. Milton Sands, who led Naval Special Warfare Command, and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency and oversaw its initial assessment of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The Defense Department did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment regarding Lacore’s assertion that she was dismissed without cause.
South Carolina’s 1st District, which includes Charleston and surrounding coastal communities, leans Republican and was carried by President Donald Trump in both 2020 and 2024. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running for governor, setting up a competitive open-seat race.
Democrats believe the district could be competitive in a favorable national environment, pointing to 2018, when Democrat Joe Cunningham flipped the seat during a wave election as the party retook control of the House.
Lacore quickly picked up endorsements from EMILYs List, which supports Democratic women candidates, and The Bench, a new Democratic group focused on competitive House districts.
She enters a crowded Democratic primary that includes Coast Guard veteran Mac Deford, who lost the party’s nomination in 2024.
On the Republican side, several candidates are vying for the nomination, including physician Sam McCown; state Rep. Mark Smith; and Alex Pelbath, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who flew the final U.S. evacuation flight out of Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2021.
