Sen. Darline Graham to Run for Full Term to Fill Brother’s Seat

Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) is going to try to win an election to secure a full term in the U.S. Senate, she said on July 20, after being named to fill the seat left vacant by her brother’s death.

“I’ve made a decision,” Graham, 62, said on Fox News. “I’m in.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), her brother, died on July 11 at age 71. He had held a Senate seat representing South Carolina since 2003.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to fill the vacant seat through Jan. 3, 2027, when her brother’s current term would have ended.

Lindsey Graham had been the Republican nominee for the seat in the upcoming November election, and his death has triggered a special GOP primary to select a different GOP nominee.

Candidates can file to run in the special primary election between July 21 and July 28. The election will be held on the second Tuesday after July 28, or Aug. 11.

If needed, a primary runoff would take place two weeks later.

The general election this year is slated to take place on Nov. 3.

Candidates who say they are running in the special primary include Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), businessman Mark Lynch, and Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.).

President Donald Trump said recently that Darline Graham should vie for a full, six-year term in the Senate.

“Darline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a winner all of her life and, should she accept, has my complete and total endorsement in the special election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina,” Trump said on social media.

Darline Graham told Fox News that she took the time to consider whether to enter the race.

“I have been praying a lot, talking to my family,” she said. “But with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I’m a hard worker—I learned that from Lindsey, he cared about the people of this state, I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state—I feel like I can do it. I feel an inner peace about it. Will it be difficult? Yes. Absolutely.”

Lindsey Graham had won the Republican primary earlier in the year with 263,895 votes. Lynch came in second with 134,246 votes.

Fry said earlier on July 20 that he would be “a conservative fighter in the Senate who delivers real results” if he were to win the election.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) announced on July 20 that she is not running for the Senate seat.

The Democratic nominee is Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and mother who said she is running for the Senate “because families are struggling” in ways that should never be accepted as “normal.”