GOOSE CREEK, S.C. — South Carolina Republicans bookended the final week before Election Day with a heavy-hitter visit to the state as the party looks to shore up competitive races.
In Goose Creek Saturday, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana spoke to some 300 people in the 1st Congressional District where Republican Jenny Honeycutt, a Charleston County councilwoman, is locked in a tight race with Democrat Nancy Lacore, a former rear admiral in the Navy.
"In the next Congress, Jenny, we're not going to be having the old traditional arguments about marginal tax rates and differences about foreign policy and regulation," Johnson told the crowd inside the American Legion Post 166. "We're going to be arguing about whether or not we're going to keep the republic, the foundations of America, or break it down and go down this Marxist utopian road to death."
Republicans have grown increasingly nervous about the race to keep control of the coastal 1st District, a district Republican state legislators redrew in 2022 to tilt more red.
But under a national midterm environment sour for Republicans, Democrats see an opportunity to flip the seat again as polls suggest the race is a toss up.
Represented by Congresswoman Nancy Mace, the seat last flipped in 2018, the first time in 40 years, by former Congressman Joe Cunningham.
President Donald Trump won the district in 2024 by 13 points.
South Carolina Republicans have spent weeks on a party unification tour of sorts, launching an all-hands-on-deck movement to unify fractures after a bruising special U.S. Senate primary and runoff elections in August that Sen. Darline Graham won.
Like Johnson for Honeycutt, in October, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota spoke at a fundraiser in Charleston.
Thune said then his presence wasn't an indication of concern, merely support.
Johnson echoed the same sentiment on Saturday.
"We could not have chosen a better candidate for this race," Johnson said of Honeycutt. "And that's why the speaker's here on the eve of the election. There's 435 races going on right now, but I came here to you guys in South Carolina."
Honeycutt told reporters she always knew the race would be close.
"We knew this was going to be a tough fight, but what I would say is the Lowcountry knows who the best leader is to lead the Lowcountry — and that's somebody who knows where we've been, (and) where we're going," she said. "We are truly excited about the opportunity, but we knew it was going to be tough."
Last Monday, Republicans Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan headlined Congressman Russell Fry's "Freedom Fry" fundraiser in Myrtle Beach with calls for unity to keep the Congress in Republican control.
Across the Cooper River, Lacore was busy over the weekend firing up door knockers with another Democrat in a race that polls suggest is also a toss up: Senate Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews.
Andrews is familiar with Lacore's race, having run unsuccessfully for the 1st District in 2022 against Mace.
"I think you're all here for probably two reasons: One, because, you know South Carolina, one, needs a Nancy upgrade," Lacore said in reference to Mace. “And, two, because you know South Carolina doesn't need another Graham."
The rare joint appearance was a smaller version of the Republican road show of the past few days led by Attorney General Alan Wilson, the Republican nominee for governor.
"I spent 35 years in uniform. I feel very strongly about our democracy. I believe in capitalism. I'm not a socialist," Lacore said in response to Johnson. "They’re pulling out all the stops because they know that we’ve built a very broad coalition and a coalition that can win."
Maayan Schechter contributed to this report.
