South Carolina Republicans are voting in a special primary to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Lindsey Graham’s recent death from an aortic tear. The compressed timeline, mandated by state law, has forced candidates to campaign while honoring the late senator’s memory.
Darline Graham, the deceased senator’s sister with no prior political experience, is serving as interim senator following her appointment by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. She received President Donald Trump’s endorsement and has received substantial financial support through the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a super PAC that previously backed her brother. Supporters cite her family connection as a qualification, with some voters noting her kinship to Graham’s Senate legacy.
The field includes several established Republican figures seeking to succeed Graham. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, fresh from an unsuccessful gubernatorial primary run, has garnered endorsements from fellow lawmakers and positioned himself as a fiscal conservative, though he backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary rather than Trump. U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who has cultivated support in his Myrtle Beach-area district, is also competing despite not initially receiving the president’s backing. Former Gov. Mark Sanford, whose political career was disrupted by a 2009 extramarital affair, is attempting another comeback after recently suspending a House race.
Other candidates include Mark Lynch, a Greenville businessman who challenged Graham in the regular primary and whom Trump criticized on social media, and Dr. Annie Andrews, a Charleston physician who won her party’s June primary but must now broaden her campaign message beyond her original focus on Graham.
Democrats have not won a South Carolina Senate seat in decades. Graham won his 2020 reelection by a 10 percentage point margin over Democratic opponent Jaime Harrison.
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