Sen. Darline Graham, US Rep. Ralph Norman advance to GOP runoff for US Senate in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Darline Graham and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman have advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s special Republican primary to replace the late Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate.
Graham was the top vote-getter to runner-up Norman as they advanced from a 10-candidate field on Tuesday in a whirlwind special election season prompted by Graham’s sudden death on July 11.
The late incumbent’s sister, Darline Graham, was appointed interim senator to serve out his current term. She received President Donald Trump’s swift endorsement and encouragement to run for the nomination for the fall general election.
Norman has long been a member of the House Freedom Caucus, comprised of the chamber’s most conservative members. He unsuccessfully ran for the GOP gubernatorial nomination earlier this year.
The winner of the Aug. 25 runoff will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in the general election. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina in decades.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) —
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) —
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Darline Graham has advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s special Republican primary to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate one month after his sudden death.
A first-time candidate who was always close to her brother’s political orbit, Darline Graham overcame skepticism about her lack of experience in her campaign to replace him, as she moved forward from a 10-way field in Tuesday’s balloting. Lindsey Graham died July 11, triggering a whirlwind special election season.
Gov. Henry McMaster had appointed Darline Graham to serve the waning months of her late brother’s term. She picked up President Donald Trump’s swift backing, but the rare open Senate seat attracted a broad field, including some of the state’s top Republicans, setting up the latest test of the president’s command over the GOP base.
For decades, South Carolina voters reliably returned Lindsey Graham to Washington despite periodic primary challengers who accused the dealmaker and foreign policy hawk of being insufficiently conservative.
Tuesday's contest featured one of Lindsey Graham’s earlier foes, as well as two U.S. House members and Mark Sanford, the former governor and congressman eager for a political comeback in a field crowded with familiar faces. One other Republican will advance to the Aug. 25 runoff, and the winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the general election.
Graham didn’t hold an election results watch party, instead huddling at a campaign office with family and staff while reporters waited in a nearby studio set up for her remarks. Instead of the ripple of excitement that typically moves through a watch party as news of candidates’ progress is announced, the only action in the Graham media room was from reporters setting up live shots to report her advancement to the Aug. 25 runoff
The unexpected primary began even before funeral observances in Washington and South Carolina for Graham, who died at his Washington home after suffering a tear in his aorta, concluded. State law proscribed a compressed timeline that forced candidates to navigate the decorum of mourning the senator's death while jockeying to replace him.
A day after Graham’s death was announced, his sister accepted Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s appointment to succeed her brother in an interim capacity and was sworn in with her family and the late senator’s staff standing behind her. A week later, Darline Graham launched into the campaign herself, encouraged to run and then endorsed by Trump.
Some voters said her brother's reputation helped tilt them to support Darline Graham.
“She’s not a politician, but she was kin to probably one of the greatest senators ever,” Frank Bohn of Horry County said.
While Darline Graham couldn't directly access the millions in Lindsey Graham's campaign account, there was no limit to how much could be transferred to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which funded advertising to support her.
A super PAC that once supported Lindsey Graham also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars backing Darline Graham. Mailers touted her as “President Trump's choice” and “Prepared to Carry on Lindsey's Legacy.”
More familiar to South Carolina voters in their own right were two U.S. House members in the race.
Fresh off an unsuccessful primary run for governor, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman entered the Senate contest and snapped up endorsements from the likes of Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah.
One of the most conservative House members, Norman is well-known across South Carolina as a fiscal conservative. At times, however, he has been at odds with Trump, backing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary.
Another candidate, Rep. Russell Fry, had appeared poised to gain Trump's backing after Lindsey Graham's death. Despite lacking the president's endorsement, he announced his own candidacy and has been trying to boost his name recognition beyond his pro-Trump, Myrtle Beach-area district.
Voter George Mitford said Fry's service stood out to him over Darline Graham, who hasn't been in elected office.
“I just thought he’d probably had more experience in this than she would have had,” Mitford said, adding that he had supported Lindsey Graham’s Senate tenure.
The former South Carolina congressman and governor whose political ascendency was stalled by a 2009 extramarital affair made yet another attempt to return to public office.
Sanford’s Senate bid came just three months after he ended an effort to retake his former U.S. House seat, saying then he was quitting the race to establish a nonprofit to address the national debt, his signature issue. He spent days crisscrossing South Carolina, reintroducing himself to voters after more than a decade out of statewide office.
Mark Lynch, a Greenville businessman who tried to oust Graham in last month's regular Republican primary, swiftly relaunched his campaign after Graham’s death. Lynch campaigned as a Trump supporter, but in June, Trump on social media called him a “lunatic” and a “disaster for the Republican Party.”
Andrews, a Charleston physician, won her party’s June primary outright. Having set up her campaign based around challenging Graham, Andrews had been forced to pivot to a broader critique of the Republican contenders.
No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat here in decades. And when Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
___
Collins reported from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
