Sen. Darline Graham will face Rep. Ralph Norman in a GOP runoff on Aug. 25 to decide the Republican nominee who will appear on the November ballot to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
How the runoff unfolded
After Lindsey Graham’s sudden death last month, South Carolina held a special Republican primary on Aug. 11, 2026, with a crowded field of candidates vying for his Senate seat. Darline Graham, appointed to finish her brother’s term and backed by President Donald Trump, led the pack but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. With roughly a third of the vote, she advanced to the next round alongside Norman, who finished second with about a quarter of the vote, narrowly edging out Rep. Russell Fry and other contenders.
Who is Ralph Norman?
Ralph Norman is a hard-line conservative congressman from South Carolina who has previously run for governor and built a reputation as a steadfast ally of Trump. His campaign emphasized loyalty to the president’s agenda and a tough stance on immigration and spending, positioning him as the more ideologically pure alternative to Graham in the eyes of some GOP voters.
What’s at stake
The Aug. 25 runoff will determine the Republican nominee for the general election in November, where the winner is expected to face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who secured her party’s nomination in June. Because South Carolina is a reliably red state in Senate races, the GOP nominee is widely favored to win the seat outright in November, making the runoff the de facto decider for who will serve in the U.S. Senate.
Context and uncertainty
While Trump’s endorsement gave Darline Graham a significant boost, it did not deliver a first-round knockout, suggesting a divided Republican electorate. The outcome of the runoff remains uncertain, with both campaigns intensifying outreach to conservative voters who backed other candidates in the first round.