In the race to replace the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, 10 candidates have been sweeping South Carolina restaurants, church halls and recreation centers, compressing a normal campaign year into about a fortnight. The Republican Party is holding a special primary election in the state on Tuesday to choose Graham’s replacement. His sister, Darline, who has been serving as interim senator following her sudden death last month, is on the ballot. If no candidate receives an overall majority of votes, the top two will advance to a runoff on August 25. Polls suggest this is the most likely outcome. “You know, South Carolina politics is very local,” said Eaddy Roe Willard, a longtime Republican activist in Richmond County, South Carolina. “Something one of our former presidents used to say about presidential candidates: We don’t decide whether we’re going to vote for you or not until we’ve had a chance to shake your hand at least three times.” On Friday, Russell Fry, a Republican representative, squeezed the meat at Savage Craft Ale Works in West Columbia. On Monday morning, Darline Graham shook hands at Lizard’s Thicket breakfast restaurant, 2 miles away. Mark Sanford, former South Carolina governor, and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman were also within a few miles of Aiken on Friday, Willard said. After the death of Lindsey Graham on July 11, Henry McMaster, governor of South Carolina, appointed Darline Graham to fill the vacancy in the US Senate. Lindsey Graham had already won the Republican primary for his seat, so the GOP must hold a special election to replace him on the ballot in the November general election. The timeline is brutal by American political standards, with elections taking place just weeks after the vacancy. The winner will face Annie Andrews, the Democratic candidate and a pediatrician, in November. ‘South Carolina politics are different’ Darline Graham was recommended by Donald Trump to serve as McMaster’s Senate appointee, and she also has the president’s backing. She has spent decades as a public administrator and disability advocate, and was a commissioner on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind from 2019 to 2026. She also has her brother’s considerable state political apparatus behind her. Trump’s endorsement is important, but not decisive, according to Frank Tiller, chairman of the Spartanburg County Republican Party. “It’s very important, but a lot of people say Donald Trump doesn’t know South Carolina politics,” Tiller said. “South Carolina politics are different than a lot of places. Everyone here is fiercely independent.” About 2 or 3 times a day Subscribe to Breaking News US Receive the biggest news as it breaks after the newsletter promotion. The compressed election cycle complicates the retail politics that South Carolina voters have become accustomed to, Tiller said. “Not enough people know the candidates. Everyone calls to find out who to vote for, because they don’t know the candidates.” Aside from Graham, two of the most capable Republican competitors for the seat have significant campaign infrastructure of their own. Norman has served in the United States House of Representatives since 2017, in a district covering the southern suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a wealthy real estate developer and a prominent member of the House Freedom group. Norman ran unsuccessfully for governor of South Carolina earlier this year, and although he did not advance to the runoff, his campaign infrastructure was still largely intact when Graham died. Fry represents Myrtle Beach and South Carolina’s conservative eastern border. Fry, an attorney, rose from the ranks of the South Carolina state legislature after successfully challenging former U.S. Rep. Tom Rice in the 2022 Republican primary. Rice was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Trump returned the favor by endorsing Fry and campaigning to replace Rice. Both Fry and Norman have campaigned as fiscal hawks, highlighting culture war issues. Sanford is a well-known name in South Carolina politics as a former governor with two separate terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sanford briefly challenged Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primary and made headlines as governor after disappearing from the state for a week, apparently on a hiking trip in Appalachia, when he was instead having an extramarital affair in Argentina. Lindsey Graham had faced a handful of rivals in the June 9 primary, the most successful of whom, businessman Mark Lynch, is campaigning for the second time this year, as a conservative outsider with a populist platform.
