UPDATED, 8/26/26 | Recently-appointed U.S. Sen. Darline Graham won a chance Tuesday to run for a six-year term in November after a rough-and-tumble primary runoff with U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman for the spot to replace her brother on the GOP ballot.
The Associated Press called the race for Graham two hours after the polls closed Tuesday. By the time all of the state’s 2,311 precincts reported, Graham had a 4.9% lead – 18,069 more votes than Norman out of more than 370,000 ballots cast. Interestingly, turnout in the special primary runoff was slightly higher than the 335,000 people who voted in the special primary two weeks ago, Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon noted.
An emotional Graham told supporters Tuesday night that recent weeks have been challenging for her family, referring to the unexpected July 11 death of her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, and her whirlwind new role as U.S. senator and candidate.
“But you know what? We did it,” she said, also thanking President Donald Trump for his key endorsement and the relationship he and her brother had, according to the Associated Press.
“Our victory would not have been possible without you and we are truly grateful,” she said.
In November, Graham will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews of Charleston and some third-party candidates in a state where the legislature is overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans.
Andrews immediately called for Graham to participate in three televised debates.
“Republicans nominated a candidate who was appointed to this seat because of her last name and elevated by Donald Trump’s endorsement and political machine,” Andrews said in a statement. “But no appointment, endorsement, or family connection entitles anyone to six years in the United States Senate. This seat belongs to the people of South Carolina.”
Huffmon reminded, however, that Republicans have a 10-point advantage over Democrats in a generic S.C. race.
“If Graham can stick to talking points, not give Dr. Andrews any ammo with gaffes and refuse to be baited into fighting with Andrews where Andrews has the high ground, Graham just has to play defense,” Huffmon told the Charleston City Paper.
Battle for the soul of the GOP
A South Carolina map of results shows a clear schism between Republican runoff voters highlighted in Norman’s commanding leads across the Upstate.
But Graham won the rest of the state – in the Midlands, Lowcountry and Grand Strand, where President Donald Trump on Friday publicly rallied Republicans to vote for her.
In Horry County, for example, Graham trounced Norman with 26,459 votes to Norman’s 9,618 – a 3-1 margin. She also tallied victories in Charleston County, where she got 56% of the vote, Berkeley County (64%), Dorchester County (66%), Richland County (60%) and Aiken County (62%).
Norman had a dominating Upstate showing in Greenville and Spartanburg counties in the 4th congressional district. He tallied two-thirds of votes, but the number of votes told the real story. Some 74,000 voters in those two counties picked Norman – one of every five votes statewide. The number of votes cast in those two counties was slightly more than in Horry, Charleston and Beaufort combined. Norman also had convincing wins in his 5th congressional district around York County and in the Upstate’s nearby 3rd district, which includes Graham’s home county, Oconee.
Norman, who placed third in June in a broad Republican gubernatorial primary, thanked supporters Tuesday night, but criticized outside PAC money and questioned the involvement of the president in the race.
“I never understood why he got in this race,” Norman told supporters, later adding, “It is what it is and we accept it.”
In the days ahead of the race, pundits frequently mentioned how the Tuesday vote would be a test of Trump’s power to back winning candidates. But while some say the power of his endorsement has been shaky lately, it wasn’t in South Carolina.
It also didn’t hurt that MAGA Inc., the super PAC that supports Trump and aligned Republicans, “infused nearly $830,000 into Graham’s campaign for voter calls and text message blasts” on Monday.
Lindsey Graham died July 11. Two days later, Gov. Henry McMaster appointed his sister, a political unknown, to fill his seat until January. Some were uncertain she would run for a full six-year term, but she did with Trump’s strong backing. He said her interim appointment was a “fabulous tribute” to her brother and urged her to run in the special primary. He even endorsed her before she made her candidacy official, the AP reported.
But uncertainty about her candidacy rose after a recent televised debate with Norman in which Graham fumbled a foreign policy question about Taiwan. She admitted that “national security is not my thing” – a stark contrast to her hawkish brother who was in Ukraine the day before he died of a tear to his aorta.
Nevertheless, on Friday in Myrtle Beach, Trump made a simple request to South Carolina voters: “What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” he said. “Just come and vote. It’s so important.”
A majority of GOP runoff voters did just that.
- To see more runoff results, visit scvotes.gov.
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