A three-star Navy rear-admiral who was dismissed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year has advanced to a Democratic primary run-off in a closely watched congressional race in South Carolina.
Nancy Lacore's Campaign Progress
Nancy Lacore, who served 35 years in the Navy and was the chief of the Navy Reserve when Hegseth ousted her in August, will face Mac Deford, a Coast Guard veteran, in a run-off on June 23. The winner will compete for South Carolina's first congressional district in the November midterm election, a seat currently held by Republican Nancy Mace, who chose not to seek re-election after an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid.
Lacore has garnered support from several veterans' groups and Emily's List, an organization backing Democratic pro-choice women candidates. According to a New York Times analysis of federal campaign finance records, she raised $500,000 in her first two weeks as a candidate and over $1.4 million by late May. She is also one of 12 House candidates backed by the Bench, a Democratic strategy group that advises candidates in districts considered difficult to win.
Context of Hegseth's Purge
Lacore is among dozens of senior military officers fired during Hegseth's ongoing purge of those perceived as disloyal to the Trump administration or not aligning with his vision for the armed forces. In his latest move, Hegseth removed all women and several Black nominees from a Navy promotion list without explanation, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate.
On the same day Lacore was fired, Hegseth also dismissed Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, for writing a preliminary analysis of U.S. military strikes on Iran in June 2025. The analysis concluded that the strikes had set back Iran's nuclear program by only a few months, contradicting President Donald Trump's claim that they had "obliterated" the sites. Hegseth publicly criticized the media for reporting the assessment.
No official reason was given for Lacore's dismissal or for the firing of other military leaders, including Gen. Tim Haugh, head of the National Security Agency, and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a senior NATO official. Under Hegseth's leadership, the military has eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and numerous officers considered too "woke" have been removed.
In a September keynote address to military commanders in Virginia, Hegseth stated, "For too long, we've promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons – based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts. The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies."
During her campaign launch in January, Lacore emphasized her continued commitment to public service, writing on X: "I still have more to give, more to fight for, more work to do – and I am not done serving."
