Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.), sister of the late-senator Lindsey Graham, won the special Republican primary election runoff on Tuesday to represent South Carolina for a full term in the Senate.
With 99% of votes counted, Graham had 52.3% of the vote against 47.7% for Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a five-term congressman for South Carolina’s 5th District in the Upstate region. The Associated Press called the race for Graham about two hours after polls closed.
Lindsey Graham died suddenly and unexpectedly in July from an aortic tear shortly after returning from a visit to Ukraine and one month after he had won the Republican primary for his 2026 re-election.
He was known during his tenure in the Senate as a foreign policy hawk, advocating strong relations between the United States in Israel and for American military power abroad.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, appointed Darline Graham to her brother’s Senate seat on July 13. Despite her lack of political experience, U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed her in the special primary for a full term shortly after her appointment.
“I asked Darline, for the good of our nation, to run for the U.S. Senate,” Trump wrote. “I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey.”
In contrast with her brother, Darline Graham said during a debate with Norman that she was “not that informed on national security” after she flubbed a question on Taiwan. She said that she didn’t know enough about the issue to say whether the United States had a national interest in defending the island.
“I’m not a polished politician up here,” she said. “National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”
She has pledged to uphold her brother’s foreign policy legacy, including support for Israel, backing the Trump administration’s war against Iran and opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Republican Jewish Coalition, which endorsed her over Norman, congratulated her on her victory Tuesday and said that she would “carry Lindsey’s torch forward.”
“South Carolina Republicans chose a principled, conservative leader to represent the Palmetto State,” the pro-Israel conservative group stated.
Graham will now face off in November against Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who won the Democratic primary in July.
Cook Political Report rates South Carolina as a “solid” Republican seat that the GOP is very likely to hold.
