The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) over the weekend has set off a fierce competition among Republicans to claim his Senate seat for the next full term. Governor Henry McMaster quickly appointed Darline Graham Nordone, Graham's sister, to fill the remainder of her brother's term through January, as the party gears up for a special primary election in August.
The scramble underscores the high stakes in a state where Graham was a dominant force. With the seat now open, a handful of prominent South Carolina Republicans are being floated as potential candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and Representatives Russell Fry, Nancy Mace, and Ralph Norman. Businessman Mark Lynch, who lost to Graham in the June primary, is also mentioned as a possible contender.
“We’re about to have a U.S. Senate race in, you know, essentially a month,” said Tyson Grinstead, a South Carolina Republican National Committee member. He emphasized the need for a candidate with statewide name recognition, a broad network, and the ability to quickly mobilize donors and grassroots support.
Graham, a close ally of former President Trump and a key bipartisan negotiator, was running for a fifth term. His unexpected death leaves a major void in both Washington and South Carolina politics. The eventual Republican nominee will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in the November general election.
Filing for the Senate seat opens July 21 and runs through July 28. The special primary is set for August 11, with a potential runoff on August 25 if no candidate secures a majority. Dave Wilson, a South Carolina-based Republican strategist, told The Hill that the open race could make the general election more competitive than it would have been with Graham on the ballot.
“It’s probably the closest the state has come in years to possibly putting another Democrat back in the U.S. Senate,” Wilson said. He noted that Graham’s power and prestige would have made a race against him nearly impossible, but the open seat gives Democrats a better chance to make their case.
Wilson added that Fry and Mace are among the most talked-about names, with Fry popular in his district and Mace boosting her profile during her gubernatorial run. “When you have both Fry and Mace who are saying, ‘I’ve got experience in Washington, D.C.; I’ve been working with these people,’ that to South Carolina voters is a level of credibility that is different than focusing on state-level issues,” he said.
A source close to Evette told The Hill that she has received hundreds of calls urging her to run since news of Graham’s death broke Sunday morning. However, the source said Evette is focused on honoring Graham’s legacy and has not yet decided whether to enter the race. Grinstead noted that Fry, Evette, and Norman have come up most frequently in conversations about the contest.
Mark Knoop, a South Carolina Republican strategist who served as Graham’s campaign manager this cycle, acknowledged that no one can truly replace Graham. “I don’t think there is a replacement for Lindsey Graham,” Knoop said. “He truly is an irreplaceable leader and human being.” While he declined to comment on specific candidates, Knoop expressed hope that the contest “doesn’t divide us more,” referencing recent contentious primaries in the state. He urged whoever succeeds Graham to carry on his legacy of putting South Carolina first and ensuring the state has a seat at the table in Washington.
For more on the succession battle, see Graham's Sudden Death Upends Senate; Succession Battle Begins and Trump-Backed Darline Graham Nordone Poised to Succeed Late Brother in Senate.
