Darline Graham wins South Carolina Senate runoff over Norman

Graham to face Democrat Annie Andrews in November general election

Sen. Darline Graham prevailed in South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary runoff on Tuesday, holding off Rep. Ralph Norman by roughly four percentage points after President Trump campaigned actively for her in the race’s final days. With 99% of the vote counted, Graham had 52% to Norman’s 48%, according to the Associated Press. The win sets up a November contest against Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and gun-safety advocate. South Carolina has not elected a Democratic senator since 1998.

Graham, 62, was appointed to her late brother Lindsey Graham’s seat in July by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster at Trump’s direction, for a term that expires in January. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, died in July of an aortic dissection caused by heart disease. Trump then encouraged Darline Graham to run for the full term, which ends in 2033.

The contest was widely viewed as a test of Trump’s continued power to shape Republican primaries. While Trump successfully engineered the defeat of some high-profile Republicans earlier this year — including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, both of whom lost in GOP primaries — his picks since then suffered losses in a number of governor and House races.

Trump personally championed Graham’s campaign. He flew to Myrtle Beach, S.C., last week for a campaign rally, held virtual events and posted comments on Truth Social praising her candidacy. During a Monday tele-rally, Trump told listeners: “I asked her to do it, I got her into this whole thing. I have to make sure she gets in because there will be nobody better.”

Graham’s path to victory was not assured. Several South Carolina Republican strategists had predicted Norman would prevail, while others cautioned the race could be tight. A rocky debate performance by Graham last week fueled concerns about her candidacy: when asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are U.S. national-security issues, she responded, “national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”

Graham, who had run South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind before being named senator, addressed critics of her candidacy at the Myrtle Beach rally. “Now the critics say I shouldn’t run for the Senate. They say I’m not a politician. You know what I say? Guilty as charged,” she said in a Friday speech. She noted that Trump hadn’t been an elected official before his first presidency. Norman, 73, joked at a town hall about the debate, telling conservative talk-show host Tara Servatius that the same national-security question was “Not to some” — a reference to Graham’s response.

The contest drew heavy outside spending. MAGA Inc., a super PAC aligned with Trump, disclosed that it had spent more than $800,000 on calls and text messages urging voters to support Graham — the first time the PAC had spent money on a race in months. The PAC reported sitting on more than $400 million. Pro-Graham outside groups spent roughly $6.6 million on independent expenditures for the runoff, while groups backing Norman spent less than $1 million, according to recent federal election filings.

Filings through Aug. 5 show Graham’s own campaign raised just under $350,000. Norman’s campaign raised more than $900,000, with $400,000 of that coming from a personal loan.

In her brief tenure in the Senate, Graham has backed Trump’s legislative priorities. She has supported the Save America Act, which mandates proof of citizenship and voter identification; voiced support for increased immigration enforcement funding, expanded gun rights and anti-abortion legislation.

Norman, a former real-estate developer, has represented South Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District since 2017 and is a member of the House Freedom Caucus. He endorsed former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for president over Trump in 2024 but switched his endorsement when Haley dropped out. He has otherwise voted with the administration’s priorities and called Trump’s endorsement of Graham “a head scratcher.”

In Tuesday’s vote, Norman carried northwestern counties around his House district, including Greenville County, while Graham carried the rest of the state, running up her margin in Horry County, home to the Myrtle Beach rally with Trump.

Political-science professor Jordan Ragusa of the College of Charleston said the result showed Trump’s continued sway in the GOP. “Still, in the big picture, he’s a kingmaker in Republican politics,” Ragusa said. Mark Weber, chairman of the Lexington County Republican Party, said Trump “continues to successfully walk the line in his endorsements and will not lose that power.”

Graham’s path to the runoff was not without complication. In the Aug. 11 special primary, she finished first with about 32% of the vote, while Norman took second with about 25%, qualifying them for the runoff. Three other Republicans — Reps. Russell Fry and Nancy Mace, and former Gov. Mark Sanford — had also entered the race. Fry endorsed Graham before the runoff.