South Carolina Primaries and Kennedy Setback

This NPR election-results page presents early and near-final results from South Carolina’s June 9, 2026 primary elections and June 23 runoff contests. The page is organized by contest, including governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House races, with separate tabs or result views for Democratic and Republican primaries and runoff elections. For several contests, including the main governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House primaries, the page indicates that no results were available yet at the time of the update. The most substantive reporting on the page concerns the runoff elections. In the Republican gubernatorial runoff, Alan Wilson led Pamela Evette with 68.6% of the vote to 31.4%, based on 99% of results reporting. The page also shows runoff results in U.S. House races in District 1 and District 2. In District 1, Democrat Nancy Lacore led Mac Deford 52.1% to 47.9% in the Democratic runoff, while Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt led Mark Smith 53.7% to 46.3% in the Republican runoff. In District 2, Democrat Zyon Khalifa led David Robinson 53.8% to 46.2%. The page is clearly an election scoreboard rather than a narrative article, serving as a live results tracker sourced from AP data and updated with timestamps. It provides navigation to county-level results and registration information, but its main purpose is to display election outcomes as they become available.

Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral who was recently fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, won the Democratic runoff for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, according to The Associated Press. Her victory sets up a general-election challenge against Republican Representative Nancy Mace, who is leaving the seat to run unsuccessfully for governor. The article frames the race as difficult for Democrats because the coastal district was redrawn in 2021 to favor Republicans and Mace has won her last two re-election bids by double-digit margins. Despite the uphill odds, Democrats and allied groups are treating Lacore as a potentially strong candidate because of her military background and national profile. Her firing after 35 years in the Navy, which she says came without explanation, has become a central part of her campaign biography and may resonate with voters. The article notes that the firing occurred amid Hegseth’s removal of military officials whose intelligence assessments displeased President Trump, giving the episode broader political significance. Lacore has also demonstrated substantial fundraising strength for a newcomer, bringing in $500,000 in her first two weeks and more than $1.6 million by late June. Major outside groups have already invested in her candidacy: VoteVets spent about $100,000 on primary ads, and The Bench spent about $65,000 in support. House Majority PAC has reserved $2.1 million in the district for the fall, signaling that Democrats may continue to prioritize the seat even though flipping it will be challenging.

Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy, lost his bid for a House seat in New York City’s 12th Congressional District, turning what had once seemed a high-profile, dynastic political comeback into a decisive primary defeat. The article frames the loss as both a personal setback and a broader signal about the fading power of the Kennedy name in modern politics. Schlossberg entered the race with major advantages: family fame, media attention, money of his own, and endorsements from prominent Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi. He also cultivated an energetic, quirky social media persona that attracted attention, especially among younger voters. But his campaign appears to have lacked organizational discipline, a clear message, and a strong ground game. Observers cited staff turnover, missed meetings, and an inability to connect with older, more established voters in the district. The piece also places the defeat in the context of broader Kennedy family turmoil, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s alignment with the Trump administration and the death of Jack’s sister, Tatiana Schlossberg, amid a deeply personal period for the family. Despite the loss, some consultants and allies suggest Schlossberg may still have a political future because of his charisma and name recognition. The article ends on a note of ambiguity: his campaign may not have succeeded, but it could be only one chapter in a longer political life, while also underscoring the emotional and symbolic weight of the Kennedy legacy in decline.