Overview
- Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press projected Lacore the winner late Wednesday, showing her ahead by roughly 3,000 to 3,300 votes with about 49.7% to 48.6%, and the Republican campaign contacted her to concede.
- Local officials delayed final returns when a technical problem in Dorchester County forced election workers to rescan ballots and slowed the county tabulation.
- Lacore is a retired Navy vice admiral with 35 years of service who was removed as chief of the Navy Reserve in 2025, and she ran on her military record while criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership.
- The result, if certified, would flip a seat that had been redrawn to favor Republicans and that President Trump carried by double digits, marking a notable Democratic pickup in the 2026 midterms.
- The projection remains unofficial until routine state certification, and if certified Lacore would be sworn in with the new Congress in January 2027 while the outcome is likely to increase scrutiny of Pentagon personnel decisions and GOP strategy in the Lowcountry.