South Carolina GOP runoff set for Senate seat after Graham's death

Darline Graham and Ralph Norman will face each other in a Republican primary runoff for South Carolina's Senate seat, following the death of Lindsey Graham. The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November. Graham, appointed to the seat, surprised observers by running for a full term with Trump's backing.

The runoff caps an unusually compressed 45-day campaign triggered by Lindsey Graham's July death. Governor Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham, his sister, to the interim seat, and state law then required a fresh primary to determine the November ballot. She emerged from a ten-candidate field despite having no legislative background, having spent her career leading the state's commission for the blind.

Norman, widely regarded as the House's most conservative member, has centered his campaign on questioning Graham's readiness, pointing to her debate comment that military matters "are not my thing." He runs billboards asserting his MAGA credentials to counter Trump's endorsement of Graham. The winner faces Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in a state where Democrats have not won statewide office in two decades.