Darline Graham jumps into South Carolina Senate race
The new South Carolina senator will seek a full term for Lindsey Graham’s seat after Trump urged her to run and endorsed her.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Sen. Darline Graham, the South Carolina Republican appointed last week to fill her brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat, says she is now running to keep it for a full six-year term.
Graham announced the move in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, according to a clip released on X. She said she will compete in next month’s special primary election for a spot on the November ballot.
“I’ve made a decision,” Graham said in the Fox News clip. “I’m in.”
The decision puts Graham into a fast-moving Republican contest that already includes several South Carolina figures. The filing deadline is July 28, and the August 11 election will help determine who advances to the general election against Democrat Annie Andrews in November.
A Trump-backed run
President Donald Trump had publicly pushed Graham to enter the race. In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump said he was giving her his “complete and total endorsement” and wrote that he hoped she would run, saying he believed there would be “nobody better” to honor Lindsey Graham’s legacy.
Graham told Hannity that she had spent time praying and speaking with her family before deciding. She also pointed to support from Lindsey Graham’s staff and her own work in the state.
“I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey,” she said in the clip. “He cared about the people of this state. I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state.”
She added that she felt “an inner peace” about the race while acknowledging it would be difficult.
A sudden vacancy
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham to the Senate seat after Lindsey Graham’s death. She was sworn in last Tuesday, one day after the appointment, to serve the remainder of his current term, which ends in early January.
Lindsey Graham died July 11 at age 71. His office said the preliminary diagnosis was a ruptured aorta caused by hardening of the arteries.
Funeral services for the longtime senator are scheduled for July 28 in Washington, D.C., and July 29 in South Carolina.
When Darline Graham accepted the appointment last week, she spoke about her relationship with her brother and said, “Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him.”
The GOP field is forming
Other Republicans who have announced plans to run include South Carolina Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, as well as South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch. Lynch lost to Lindsey Graham in the June Republican primary, according to NBC News.
The winner of the Republican fight will face Andrews in November, with control of the seat decided only months after Lindsey Graham won the party’s primary and before his Senate term was set to expire.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.