Darline Graham moved forward in the 10-way contest Tuesday despite her being a political unknown, having been close to her brother’s political orbit but never a candidate herself.
South Carolina spun up a compressed timeline for the special election, with just a one-week filing period, then two weeks until the primary.
Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to serve out the remaining months of her late brother’s current term. She swiftly notched an endorsement from President Donald Trump, her brother’s congressional ally who encouraged her to enter the race for the nomination to serve a full term.
The winner of the Aug. 25 runoff will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in the general election. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina in decades.
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“I expect to be in a runoff in two weeks,” Graham told reporters earlier Tuesday after voting in Lexington. “I feel confident that I will win.”
Other candidates including U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and former Gov. Mark Sanford were having election watch parties. U.S. Rep. Russell Fry didn’t have a formal event planned.
