South Carolina Republicans vote to replace Lindsey Graham

South Carolina Republicans are choosing a new Senate nominee Tuesday in a compressed special primary triggered by the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a race that has pushed 10 candidates into diners, church halls and recreation centers in a campaign measured in weeks rather than months.

Graham died July 11 from cardiovascular disease, less than five weeks before the vote. He had already won the June 9 Republican primary in his bid for another six-year term, forcing the state party to hold a new election to determine who will appear on the November ballot. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time.

The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in the November midterms. If no Republican wins a majority Tuesday, the top two candidates will advance to an Aug. 25 runoff, an outcome polling suggests is likely.

Darline Graham, the late senator’s sister, is the most closely watched candidate. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to fill the Senate vacancy two days after her brother’s death, and she is serving the remainder of his current term, which runs through January. She is the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate.

President Donald Trump recommended Darline Graham for the appointment and has endorsed her campaign. She has spent decades as a public administrator and disability advocate, including service as commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind from 2019 to 2026. Al Jazeera reported that she was initially viewed as a placeholder for her brother, but a Quantus Insights poll showed her leading the field with 30.4% support.

The same poll put U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman at 17.5%, U.S. Rep. Russell Fry at 16.6% and former Gov. Mark Sanford at 15.4%.

Trump’s endorsement matters in the Republican primary, but local party figures said it may not settle the race. “It’s very important, but a lot of people are saying Donald Trump does not know South Carolina politics,” Frank Tiller, chair of the Spartanburg County Republican Party, told The Guardian. “South Carolina politics is different from a lot of places. Everybody here is fiercely independent.”

Eaddy Roe Willard, a longtime Republican activist in Richmond County, described the state’s politics as intensely personal. “We don’t decide whether or not we’re gonna vote for you until we’ve had a chance to shake your hand at least three times,” she said, recalling a former party chairman’s advice about presidential candidates.

That style has been difficult to replicate on the accelerated calendar. Russell Fry greeted voters Friday at Savage Craft Ale Works in West Columbia, while Darline Graham met people Monday morning at Lizard’s Thicket breakfast restaurant nearby. Sanford and Norman were also campaigning Friday in Aiken, Willard said.

Norman, a wealthy real estate developer and House Freedom Caucus member, has represented a district covering the southern suburbs of Charlotte since 2017. He ran unsuccessfully for governor earlier this year, leaving him with campaign infrastructure already in place when Graham died.

Fry, an attorney who represents Myrtle Beach and South Carolina’s eastern border, entered Congress after defeating Rep. Tom Rice in the 2022 Republican primary. Rice was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after Jan. 6, and Trump endorsed Fry in that race. Both Fry and Norman have campaigned as fiscal hawks while emphasizing culture war issues.

Sanford is one of South Carolina’s best-known Republicans, having served as governor and in two separate stints in the U.S. House. He briefly challenged Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primaries.

Other Republican candidates include businessman Mark Lynch, who finished second to Lindsey Graham in the June primary, lawyer Duke Buckner, biomedical engineer Samuel Shepherd, former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, retired Air Force officer Glenda Gail Parker and farmer Danny Lee Ford II.

Andrews, the Democratic nominee, has argued that voters want a change in leadership. “They’re looking for something different, and as a doctor and a mom and someone who represents a generational shift in leadership, that’s exactly what I’m offering,” she told the Charleston City Paper, according to Al Jazeera.