A Top Navy Officer Fired by Hegseth Is Elected to Congress

Democrat Nancy Lacore, a retired Navy vice admiral fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year, has won her congressional race, flipping the seat occupied by retiring Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.

Mace announced she was not running for reelection in her South Carolina district after her unsuccessful gubernatorial bid over the summer.

Lacore’s victory against Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt also comes amid a surge of military veterans seeking seats in Congress. According to With Honor Action, 258 vets were on the ballot, up 21% from 2024. That includes a record 38 women who are vets, an 81% increase from two years ago. Women accounted for 15% of the veteran candidates, up from 10% in 2024.

Lancore, who has expressed interest in serving on the Armed Services Committee, will represent the state’s wealthy 1st Congressional District, which includes Charleston and much of the state’s coastline.

Her win also comes as Congress could soon take up an impeachment measure against Hegseth.

In September, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) introduced a measure to impeach the defense secretary, who he claims violated the law by engaging in hostilities with Iran without congressional approval. Massie will force a vote on the measure as soon as next week.

In her 35 years of military service, Lacore worked as a helicopter pilot and later became a three-star admiral and chief of the Navy Reserve. She was among more than a dozen senior military officers ousted by Hegseth last year, and has said she was given no explanation for her firing.

Speaking with former Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison on his podcast “At Our Table” in September, Lacore said she did not think Hegseth was qualified to be defense secretary.

“I did not from the moment he was confirmed,” she said. “And I think he’s just demonstrating that, over and over and over.”

She criticized Hegseth for his purge of Pentagon leadership and micromanagement of military promotions, among other issues.

Last year, Hegseth also suspended the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in the Services, a move Lacore has criticized.

Prior to her retirement, she said, she’d never considered running for office.

“Service has been my life and this is just another way to serve,” she told Harrison, noting she was inspired to enact change for her six children.

“It’s just a different world they’re growing up in and I want to try to help make it a better world,” she added.

Mace congratulated Lacore on X before the race was called, saying her commitment is to a “smooth transition as our constituent work always comes FIRST.”