South Carolina Republicans Vote in Special Senate Primary to Replace Lindsey Graham
South Carolina Republicans voted Tuesday, August 11, 2026, in a special primary to pick their nominee for the U.S. Senate seat left open by the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. The appointed incumbent, Darline Graham, who also holds Trump's endorsement, faced a field that included Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry (NPR).
Lindsey Graham died unexpectedly on July 11, 2026 (AP). He had held the seat since first winning it in 2002. On July 14, 2026, Darline Graham was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol after Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to finish her late brother's term (NPR). She announced she would run for a full term on July 20 (AP), and President Trump endorsed her in the special primary (NPR).
The August 11 primary was the second Senate contest for South Carolina Republicans this cycle. Lindsey Graham had won the June 9 regular GOP primary with 264,091 votes, or 56.8%, according to certified results (AP). The AP called that race at 5:57 p.m. on election night (AP). A candidate identified as Lynch placed second with nearly 29% (Reuters). Graham's margin in that primary was nearly 28 percentage points (Reuters; AP).
His death between the June primary and the November general election set off the special election process. The nominee selected in the special Republican primary advances to the general election on November 3, 2026 (SC Votes).
Rep. Ralph Norman entered the special primary after placing third in the state's June 2026 GOP gubernatorial primary. He drew endorsements from Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida (NPR). Rep. Russell Fry, another contender, had defeated former Rep. Tom Rice in the 2022 South Carolina primary after Rice voted to impeach Trump over the January 6 insurrection (NPR).
The State Election Commission concluded its early voting period on August 10, reporting that more than 61,000 votes had already been cast (SC Votes). The commission had previously reminded voters of absentee deadlines in a July 23 press release (SC Votes).
The ballot itself changed in the final stretch. A court order issued August 4 directed the State Election Commission to add a candidate, and the commission confirmed the addition on August 3 (SC Votes).
South Carolina's Republican primary rules require a candidate to secure a majority of the vote, not just a plurality. If no candidate cleared that threshold on August 11, a runoff between the top two vote-getters was scheduled for August 25 (NPR).
The special primary compressed what would normally be a months-long campaign into roughly three weeks between Darline Graham's swearing-in and the vote. Her appointment gave her incumbency advantages, including fundraising infrastructure and name recognition tied to her brother's decades-long tenure. But the shortened timeline also left little room for her opponents to build statewide organization, a constraint that worked against challengers relying on grassroots momentum rather than established political networks.
Norman's endorsement roster pointed to the Senate's conservative flank, with Lee and Scott both having aligned with the fiscal-hawk and Trump-adjacent wings of the conference. Fry's 2022 victory over Rice, driven by the impeachment vote, showed the degree to which loyalty to Trump remained a defining dividing line in South Carolina Republican primaries.
The winner of the Republican primary, whether decided August 11 or in the August 25 runoff, will be heavily favored in November in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998. The broader question for the GOP is whether the special primary produces a nominee who can hold the seat without fracturing a state party that has seen competitive down-ballot primaries throughout 2026.
