A former Navy admiral fired by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has flipped a traditionally red House district in South Carolina.

Democrat Nancy Lacore defeated Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt in South Carolina’s first congressional district, a seat held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.

Lacore received 49.65 percent of the vote to Honeycutt’s 48.64 percent, with all votes tallied as of early Wednesday; the lead was roughly 1 percentage point, with fewer than 3,500 votes separating the candidates.

Donald Trump won the district by 13 percentage points in 2024.

Lacore celebrated her victory with supporters on Tuesday while noting the small margin.

“What a hard night. But what a victory,” Lacore told supporters. “You know, there will be a recount, and I welcome it to just reconfirm what we already know.”

Under South Carolina election law, a recount is required when the margin between candidates is 1% or less of the total votes cast for the office, unless the eligible losing candidate waives the recount in writing.

For 35 years, Lacore served in the United States Navy, beginning her career as a helicopter pilot and eventually rising to Vice Admiral and Chief of the Navy Reserve. She had several deployments, including to Afghanistan and Djibouti.

Last summer, Hegseth abruptly fired her with no explanation. In January, she announced her run for Congress in South Carolina’s first district, which was recently gerrymandered to favor the GOP.