Darline Graham and Ralph Norman advance to runoff in South Carolina Senate primary

COLUMBIA, S.C. —

Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman will face each other in a runoff later this month for the Republican nomination to a South Carolina Senate seat, CBS News projected Tuesday, after neither candidate cleared 50 percent of the vote in a crowded special primary.

Ten Republicans ran to succeed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died July 11. Under South Carolina rules, the top two finishers advance to a runoff when nobody wins a majority outright. That runoff is set for August 25, according to CBS News.

Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham, the late senator's sister, to hold the seat through the rest of his term, which ends in January. She announced days later that she would run for a full term, with President Donald Trump's encouragement and endorsement, CBS News reported. She has also picked up support from McMaster and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, according to the Guardian.

Graham, 62, spent her career in disability services and most recently ran the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, CBS News reported. Lindsey Graham adopted her when she was 13, after their parents died within a short span of each other, and the two remained close. Speaking to reporters after voting Tuesday, she pointed to her brief record in the Senate. "I ran a state agency. I turned it from a struggling agency into a national model. I think that's great experience to bring to the table," she said, according to the Guardian. She also noted her vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general and the Senate's recent passage of a Russia sanctions bill.

Norman brings a built-in base

Norman, who has represented a Charlotte-area congressional district since 2017, edged out Rep. Russell Fry and former Gov. Mark Sanford for second place, according to the Guardian. He is vice chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus and has campaigned on the Save America Act, a Trump-backed measure requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration, and on a bill that would cut federal housing money to cities that do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Guardian reported.

Fry had attacked Graham over comments seen as friendly to data center development and suggested her appointment amounted to "DEI," while also drawing criticism himself for running for the Senate seat while keeping his House campaign alive, according to the Guardian.

A heavily Republican seat

Whoever wins the runoff will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in November. Republicans are favored: Lindsey Graham won reelection in 2020 with 54 percent of the vote, and Trump carried South Carolina with 58 percent in 2024, CBS News reported.

Statewide special Senate elections are rare in South Carolina. The last one followed Sen. Jim DeMint's 2013 resignation, when then-Gov. Nikki Haley appointed Tim Scott, who went on to win the seat outright and is now the longest-serving Black senator in American history, according to the Guardian.