Lacore, Honeycutt to face off in 1st district race
UPDATED, 7:45 a.m., June 24, 2026 | Republican S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson shellacked Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette by a 38-point margin in a testy Tuesday GOP gubernatorial runoff. He’ll face Democratic nominee Jermaine Johnson, a member of the S.C. House of Representatives in Richland County, in November.
Meanwhile in the Lowcountry’s 1st Congressional District, retired Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore topped Mount Pleasant lawyer Mac Deford in a Democratic runoff by a 52% to 48% margin. The low-turnout contest brought 24,545 Democratic voters to the runoff polls.
In the Republican runoff for the 1st District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who lost a bid for governor, Charleston County Council member Jenny Honeycutt of James Island polled 54% of the votes against Daniel Island funeral home owner and S.C. Rep. Mark Smith. Some 44,730 voters cast ballots in the GOP runoff.
Expected to challenge Lacore and Honeycutt in the November general election are three third-party candidates – Margo Ellis of the Alliance Party, Libertarian Bill Reeside and independent write-in candidate Clayton Cuteri, according to Ballotpedia.
Runoff process saw a rising star
Throughout reporting of results Tuesday night, Wilson had a commanding lead over Evette, a Greenville businesswoman from Ohio who has served as term-limited incumbent Henry McMaster’s second since 2019.
By the time all was said and done, Wilson more than doubled the votes cast for Evette. He tallied 218,321 votes to her 100,123 votes in a race where turnout was just over 10%, according to unofficial results.
“Are we having fun tonight?” Wilson asked an enthusiastic Columbia crowd after his win before making a long list of thank-yous and calling for unity.
“Over the coming days and coming weeks, we’re going to unify,” Wilson said after mentioning several Republican candidates who he beat through the political season. “We need to unify. We can’t focus on what divides us; we have to focus on what unites us. That’s what’s important to South Carolina.”
During the two-week runoff period, Wilson saw his political star rise when he received a rare co-endorsement on Friday from President Donald Trump, who solely endorsed Evette in the June 9 primary.
Observers say Evette’s star started to fall after she criticized students at S.C. State University last month for opposing her as the graduation speaker. She called them a “woke mob” and eventually said some funding should be taken away from the school.
Other results
Here’s a look at other unofficial results:
Attorney General. GOP 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo of the Greenwood area beat state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, by a 56% to 44% margin. Stumbo will take on Democratic nominee Richard Hracik, a Mount Pleasant lawyer, in the fall.
Commissioner of Agriculture. In the GOP runoff, Cody Simpson outpolled Danny Ford II by a 26-point margin by snaring 63% of runoff votes. Simpson will face Democratic nominee DeShawn Blanding, a Clarendon County farmer, in the fall.
Congress, District 2. Democratic candidate Zyon Khalifa beat David Robinson II by 433 votes of 5,693 cast in a race to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson in this Midlands seat. Joe Wilson is Alan Wilson’s father.
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