Pete Hegseth Fired This Former Navy Chief Without Reason. Now She’s Running for Congress.

A three-star admiral and the former chief of the Navy Reserve may have no place in our current administration’s increasingly anti-woman military—but, luckily, women haven’t been barred from running for Congress…at least not yet.

Nancy Lacore, who served in the military for three decades before Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth unceremoniously ousted her in August, is running for Congress in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

She officially launched her campaign on Tuesday. “Many people consider service a sacrifice; I consider it a privilege,” she says in a campaign video showing her running down an empty road in the early morning next to Folly Beach, as her varying military titles and career achievements like “Navy Pilot” and “Commanding Officer” scroll across the screen. “My love of country is why I put the uniform on in the first place, and it’s exactly why I can’t stand by while Americans and South Carolinians are struggling.”

“After decades of service to our country, I was removed from my position without cause, along with dozens of other senior military leaders,” she continues in the video. “After I left the Pentagon that day, I never put the uniform on again. But I am not done serving.”

After beginning her career as a helicopter pilot for the Navy in 1990, Lacore quickly moved up the ranks and was named Chief of Navy Reserve on Aug. 23, 2024. Less than a year later, on Aug. 22, Hegseth fired her without explanation.

After decades of service to our country, a career that started as a Navy pilot and finished as a three star admiral, I was removed from my position without cause.

I still have more to give, more to fight for, more work to do — and I am not done serving.

Join my team at… pic.twitter.com/Sv2TI62Pyj

— Nancy Lacore (@nancylacore) January 20, 2026

“We have families that do everything right but can’t afford a home, veterans are promised care and then forced to fight for it, healthcare costs keep rising while Washington keeps arguing,” she says. “And too many politicians care more about party politics than standing up for the Constitution. That should concern every American.”

Lacore is running to represent Rep. Nancy Mace’s seat, as Mace is campaigning for governor. The district voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024, but really has a huge opportunity here to get a better Nancy into office.

The 57-year-old joins an already crowded field of Democrats in the primary and will compete against candidates such as Mac Deford (who lost the Democratic primary in 2024), Max Diaz (a self-described “working-class” candidate), and Mayra Rivera-Vazquez (who would be the first Latina elected to the seat if she wins). Four Republicans are also vying for the seat, one of whom (Sam McCown) is an anti-abortion “physician” who wants to tackle “overregulation” in healthcare. OK!

Mace, meanwhile, has suggested she’s winning the race for governor, but the most recent independent poll shows her trailing far, far behind the leading candidate, Attorney General Alan Wilson. Still, most respondents said they were undecided.

Since being picked to lead the Department of Defense, Hegseth has used his title to demote women and people of color from leadership positions, proposed new military fitness tests that would disqualify women from combat roles, and axed a panel that encouraged women to join the military. According to the American Enterprise Institute, as of August, five other women had been unjustly fired from their positions in the military.

“Our leaders in Congress are not working for us,” Lacore concludes in the video. “They have lost the courage to act, to fight for and to serve the people they represent. I’ve spent decades serving our country, and I still have more to give, more to fight for, and more work to do. I’m not done yet.”

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