SouthernWorldwide.com – Jenny Costa Honeycutt, a Charleston County Councilwoman and small business owner, has moved a significant step closer to securing a congressional seat and potentially succeeding the well-known Republican Representative Nancy Mace.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Honeycutt emerged victorious in the Republican runoff election for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, defeating State Representative Mark Smith.
Mace, who has maintained a complex relationship with former President Donald Trump during her six years in the U.S. House, chose not to seek re-election this year and instead ran for governor.
Both Honeycutt and Smith, who previously served on the Mount Pleasant Town Council, were among a large group of candidates who vied for the Republican nomination in the primary election earlier this month.
However, as no candidate secured over 50% of the vote, Honeycutt and Smith, the top two vote-getters, advanced to the runoff election held on Tuesday.
The 1st Congressional District, which encompasses a substantial portion of South Carolina’s coastal area, has been a Republican stronghold for forty-five years. The only exception was a brief two-year period when Democrats held the seat following the “blue wave” election of 2018.
Notable Republicans who have previously represented this district include current Senator Tim Scott and former Governor Mark Sanford.
Honeycutt, who identifies herself as an “unapologetic conservative,” is slated to compete against the winner of the Democratic runoff. The Democratic runoff is between Mac Deford, an attorney, and Nancy Lacore, a retired Vice Admiral in the Coast Guard.
While Honeycutt is expected to be the favored candidate in the general election, The Cook Political Report, a respected nonpartisan election analysis organization, recently adjusted its assessment of the race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.”
