Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina’s Republican primary runoff, NBC News projects, a victory for President Donald Trump, who recruited, endorsed and campaigned for her following her brother Lindsey Graham’s death six weeks ago.
With nearly all of the vote tallied, Graham was leading Norman roughly 52% to 48%.
At her election night party in Columbia, Graham paid tribute to her late brother and credited Trump for getting her across the finish line.
“I continue to miss Lindsey every day, and there is still a big hole in my heart. But I know he’s looking down right now, very proud of everyone in this room,” she told her supporters.
“Mr. president, Lindsey truly loved you and viewed you as one of his closest friends. I appreciate that bond and appreciate all that you’ve done for our country,” Graham continued. “Our victory would not have been possible without you, and we are truly grateful. South Carolina is truly Trump country.”
An hour north in Rock Hill, Norman said he had not prepared a concession speech and lamented Trump’s involvement, though he said he accepted the results and planned to call Graham.
“I really hate it for the state. I don’t hate it for me. ... I hate it for the state. But the public of South Carolina made the decision,” Norman told his supporters. As for Trump’s involvement, Norman said, “He has that right. That’s his prerogative,” adding that “his policies are good.”
But Norman added, “I never understood why he got in this race. ... But it is, it is what it is, and I’ll accept it.”
Trump had gone all in for Graham, who decided to run for a full six-year term after she was appointed to the seat by Gov. Henry McMaster. The president held an in-person rally for her Friday in Myrtle Beach and a tele-rally Monday evening, and his allied super PAC made a late $830,000 push to boost her.
During the Friday rally, Trump recounted how he asked her to run “because everyone loves her, everyone respects her.” He also said he’s supporting her to “honor Lindsey,” who had been one of his closest allies in Washington.
“She only knows how to put America first,” Trump told the crowd. “You vote for her, you’re going to be very proud of that vote.”
Graham, 62, will now face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in the November general election, and is the heavy favorite in the deep-red state where her brother served in the Senate and House for more than 30 years.
To beat Norman, who’s spent nearly a decade in Congress, Graham had to overcome GOP attacks of nepotism and inexperience. She had never held or run for elected office before, though she did lead a 130-person state agency that helped blind people. In the initial primary earlier this month, Graham finished first with 33% of the vote, short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff.
And the final week of the truncated, two-week runoff campaign was dominated by Graham’s blunder at a debate with Norman where she replied that she was “not that informed on national security” when asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea were important national security priorities.
“National security is not my thing,” she said.
It was a particularly notable moment given that her senator brother had served more than three decades in the Air Force and was one of the leading voices on national security on Capitol Hill.
Darline Graham said that she would be more focused as a senator on domestic policy issues, such as affordability.
“Her brother was very much about the world. … That’s good, that’s fine. But she’s more about affordability,” Trump said about the Graham siblings, who have both talked about their humble beginnings being raised in a single room next to their family’s bar and pool hall.
In the closing days of the campaign, she touted herself as someone who would continue her brother’s legacy and also be a reliable vote for Trump. In one ad, she noted she was the lead sponsor of a tough Russia sanctions bill that was renamed for her brother, and she highlighted her vote to confirm Todd Blanche, Trump’s nominee for attorney general.
Graham’s victory caps a tumultuous six-week stretch in South Carolina Republican politics. Fresh from a trip to Ukraine, Lindsey Graham died the night of July 11 from what doctors preliminarily said was a tear in the aorta due to the hardening of the arteries.
Three days later, Darline Graham was sworn in to serve out the rest of his term. Despite her appointment and Trump’s endorsement, the primary to replace her brother attracted a crowded field of candidates, including Norman, Rep. Russell Fry, former Gov. Mark Sanford and wealthy self-funding businessman Mark Lynch.
Norman first irritated Trump when he became the only House Republican to endorse former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over Trump in the 2024 presidential primary race.
Since then, he’s been a constant thorn in Trump’s side. Last year, Norman, a member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, clashed with Trump and GOP leaders by initially opposing the president’s landmark tax-and-spending cuts package, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But he eventually voted yes after successfully negotiating to speed up work requirements for Medicaid recipients and the elimination of Biden-era wind and solar tax credits.
The runoff was a rare race that divided conservatives.
While Darline Graham had Trump, McMaster and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in her corner, Norman secured endorsements from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who now lives in the state; Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., his onetime rival for governor; former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who had run in the special Senate primary race; and former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who previously led the Heritage Foundation.
As expected, Norman performed well in the upstate areas in and around his congressional district. Graham, meanwhile, bested Norman in populous areas along the coast and around the capital city of Columbia.
Trump’s visit to South Carolina and Fry’s endorsement seem to have boosted her in Horry County, where the Myrtle Beach rally was held.
In the initial GOP primary two weeks ago, Fry won the county with nearly 14,000 votes. But in the Tuesday runoff, Graham crushed Norman there, winning more than 26,000 votes to his nearly 10,000.
