Darline Graham rides Trump backing to win South Carolina GOP race for late brother’s Senate seat

The political newcomer, sister of late Senator Lindsey Graham, bested a five-term congressman. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., gives a speech to supporters after winning a special Republican primary runoff to replace her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in the November general election, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard) CHARLESTON, S.C. (CN) — U.S. Senator Darline Graham will compete in November for a full term to succeed her late brother after earning the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s special primary runoff election. Graham, 62, secured 52% of the vote, or about 193,000 of the 369,000 ballots cast. Her opponent, U.S. Representative Ralph Norman, 73, had 48% of the vote, or about 175,000 ballots. Graham, who President Donald Trump appointed to finish Senator Lindsey Graham’s term after his sudden death from a heart issue in July , told supporters Tuesday night she missed her brother every day. “I am feeling grief, heartache and immense gratitude,” she said. Graham said Trump was one of her brother’s closest friends and she was grateful for his support. “South Carolina is truly Trump Country,” she said. Graham will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician who ran against Mace in 2022. Danielle Vinson, a political science professor at Furman University, said Andrews would have faced a tough battle against Lindsey Graham, a strong incumbent in a reliably red state. But his sister has no experience campaigning in a general election and hasn’t faced serious scrutiny, she said. “It’s still an uphill fight,” Vinson said. “It’s still a Republican state. But she’s got an opponent that is less well-known and not at all campaign tested, so there is more room for mistakes.” Norman, a Greenville real estate developer, once again dominated in the Upstate, the home region that carried him through the crowded primary race two weeks ago , but he failed to capture a majority of votes in South Carolina’s largest counties elsewhere. In Horry County, home of the ruby red city of Myrtle Beach, Graham earned nearly three-quarters of the vote. Trump joined Graham at a rally there Friday, where he urged Republicans to honor the late senator’s memory by uniting around Graham’s campaign. “What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” he said. Graham secured a smaller majority in Charleston and Richland counties. During his concession speech, Norman lamented Trump’s decision to endorse Graham. His supporters expressed their displeasure with a chorus of boos. “That’s his prerogative,” Norman said. “His policies are good, but I never understood why he got in this race.” The congressman also questioned the outsized role of outside spending. “All of our money came from South Carolina and my personal account,” he said. “My opponents — the money came from outside PACs.” MAGA Inc., the super PAC that supports Trump and aligned Republicans, spent more than $827,000 on voter phone calls and text messages for Graham in the runoff. Trump’s endorsement to serve a full six-year term helped Graham, a first-time candidate, survive a crowded primary two weeks ago, where she edged out seasoned politicians including U.S. representatives Ralph Fry and Nancy Mace. Graham’s political inexperience was displayed during the sole debate in the special primary, when she said during a question about Taiwan that she was “not that informed on national security.” Norman, the vice chairman of the Freedom Caucus and five-term congressman, deftly explained the U.S. economic interest in protecting Taiwan from China. Norman’s experience was not enough, however, as the congressman struggled to overcome doubts about his loyalty to the president. Norman endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary and initially opposed Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” over national debt concerns. Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in