Charleston City Council member Jenny Honeycutt on Tuesday won the Republican runoff for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, a seat opened by Rep. Nancy Mace's unsuccessful bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Honeycutt about two hours after polls closed. With about 65% of the vote counted, Honeycutt had 52.9% to state Sen. Mark Smith's 47.1%.

Honeycutt and Smith were the top two finishers in the June 9 primary. Honeycutt finished first with 22.1% and Smith finished second with 18% in the crowded 11-candidate field.

The winner will face either Nancy Lacore or Mac Deford, who are competing in the Democratic runoff. Lacore finished first in the primary with 36.5% of the vote, while Deford placed second with 28.9% in the seven-candidate field.

Although the seat remains challenging territory for Democrats, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report recently shifted it from "Solid Republican" to "Likely Republican," citing the open seat and the possibility of a well-funded Democratic nominee in a favorable political environment.