South Carolina polls close as Republicans select candidate for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat

WASHINGTON – Polls in South Carolina closed on Aug 11 in the Republican vote to decide if Darline Graham will replace her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, as the Republican nominee for US Senate in November’s election, following his death in July.

Governor Henry McMaster had appointed Darline Graham to serve the rest of the senator’s term through early January, after his unexpected death from a heart ailment.

President Donald Trump endorsed Darline Graham, who has never held public office, for a full six-year term, calling it a “fabulous tribute” to her brother.

But critics said her bid, based on family name recognition and presidential backing without a political record of her own, had the air of an attempted coronation. Ten candidates stood for the Republican nomination in the election on Aug 11. If none of them wins a majority on Aug 11, the top two finishers will head to an Aug 25 runoff.

The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a paediatrician who had more than $3 million (S$3.84 million) in her campaign war chest at the start of July.

Graham’s opponents include US Representatives Ralph Norman and Russell Fry, former Governor Mark Sanford and self-funded Greenville businessman Mark Lynch.

Alabama vote in redrawn seat

In nearby Alabama, Republicans in the state’s 2nd Congressional District for the US House were deciding who will be their candidate in a seat that they hope to flip from the Democrats with help from a redrawn map.

The race is potentially crucial to their bid to hold the House, which they narrowly control.

The Republican majorities in Congress are essential to Trump’s ability to power ahead with his agenda, but he faces a tough challenge ahead in the November midterm election, given a low approval rating that has eroded further as the Iran war drags on and gasoline prices remain high.

Republican-led states in the US South rushed through a round of congressional redistricting earlier in 2026, to take advantage of an April Supreme Court decision that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 law intended to prevent discrimination in voting.

Earlier in 2026, the court cleared the way for Alabama to use a congressional map that favours Republicans by eliminating one of two districts where Black voters make up a majority or near-majority. Polls in Alabama close at 7pm (8am Wednesday Singapore time) and the Republican winner will face incumbent Democrat Shomari Figures, who is Black and is hoping for a second term.

Time for change in South Carolina?

Lindsey Graham won his June 9 primary in South Carolina by almost 28 percentage points, as he sought his fifth Senate term. Lynch, who placed second with nearly 29 per cent of the vote, is the only candidate in the special primary from the original primary field.

Lynch received more than 130,000 votes in that primary, suggesting some Republican primary voters had an appetite for change before Lindsey Graham’s death.

“People are furious” about “the coronation of Darline Graham,” Lynch said in an interview. “It’s OK that they picked her to be the interim senator until January but not to run for office.”

Graham is expected to make the run-off, but skeptics have questioned her credentials and the president’s decision to endorse her over other candidates who have run in previous campaigns.

Her rivals expect voters who do not choose her on Tuesday to back her opponent in a runoff.

Trump won South Carolina in 2024 by nearly 18 percentage points.

In interviews, Republicans questioned the potency of Trump’s endorsement in South Carolina, where he backed a pair of run-off candidates for governor after polls showed his first pick, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, was poised to lose against Attorney General Alan Wilson.

US Representative Nancy Mace, who ran unsuccessfully for governor, predicted Graham would lose her Senate bid just as Trump’s original choice for governor lost.

The president’s endorsement “gets you into a run-off,” she told Reuters. “But ... it’s not ​enough to win a race anymore.”

The eventual Republican nominee is favoured to win in November. REUTERS