The race for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District has tightened to a dead heat heading into Election Day.

The Cook Political Report moved the contest between Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt and Democrat Nancy Lacore into its toss-up column on Oct. 30, the Post and Courier reported. The rating means analysts believe either candidate has a good chance of winning. The district includes most of Charleston County and parts of Berkeley and Dorchester counties, stretching south to the Beaufort and Hilton Head Island area.

That's a dramatic shift for a seat President Donald Trump carried by 13 points in 2024. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, the outgoing Republican incumbent, won her last two elections by double-digit margins after state legislators redrew the district lines in 2022. Mace ran for governor instead of seeking reelection.

Millions pouring in

National groups from both parties have poured money into the race. Outside groups spent almost $11.5 million during the general election, including seven-figure contributions from each party's main House political action committee, according to the Post and Courier's Nov. 1 report.

About $7.5 million of that outside spending went to support Honeycutt, keeping total spending for each candidate roughly even. That's despite Lacore's campaign raising more than three times as much as Honeycutt's over the entire election cycle, the Post and Courier reported.

The Cook Political Report had shifted the race to "Lean Republican" just two weeks earlier, on Oct. 16, according to a separate Post and Courier fundraising report. House Democrats had the seat on their target list since the summer, and both parties recognized it as a battleground by mid-September.

Two different candidates

Honeycutt, a two-term Charleston County councilwoman who grew up on James Island, has framed the campaign as a contest between a local and a transplant. She has labeled Lacore an out-of-state liberal whose policy stances on health care and Social Security would raise taxes, the Post and Courier reported.

"I didn't go looking for a seat like she did," Honeycutt said, according to the Post and Courier.

Lacore, a retired Navy vice admiral, moved to Mount Pleasant after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired her from her post as chief of Navy Reserve. She has focused much of her campaign on criticizing Trump's second-term record, blaming tariffs and rising prices while pointing to unaffordable housing and health care.

Speaking at a Goose Creek park, Lacore told supporters she and her husband bought their first home when she was 27, but her daughter is now that age and can't afford to do the same. "That's not the future I want for my kids, or any of the kids who are trying to make a life right now," she said, according to the Post and Courier.

Both candidates have broken with their national parties on some issues. Honeycutt told the Post and Courier that Trump's decision to suspend congressionally passed sanctions on Russia was inappropriate. Lacore opposes calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

How to vote

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to Live 5 News. The 1st Congressional District race is on the ballot in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and Jasper counties.