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by MARK POWELL
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What a difference a day makes. On Monday evening, the five leading candidates for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in South Carolina squared off in their first debate in Columbia, S.C. Precisely 24 hours later, four of them met again – this time in Mount Pleasant, S.C. – for a final pre-election encounter.
One member of the original quintet – interim U.S. senator Darline Graham Nordone – skipped Tuesday’s debate, citing the possibility of Senate votes.
“Senator Graham will not participate in tonight’s debate as she fulfills her responsibilities in the United States Senate,” her spokeswoman, Abby Zilch, said. “Our campaign notified the television station in advance that the debate date conflicted with the Senate schedule, but the debate was scheduled regardless.”
That left U.S. congressman Russell Fry, businessman Mark Lynch, congressman Ralph Norman and former two-term S.C. governor Mark Sanford to duke it out amongst themselves as they all vie to replace the late Lindsey Graham on the November ballot.
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This final candidate debate carried added significance, with early voting set to commence on Wednesday morning (August 5, 2026) at 8:30 a.m. EDT – barring any intervention from the courts.
All of the candidates seemed to sense the pressure – as evidenced by a noticeable uptick in intensity. Questions posed to them on Tuesday evening were basically carbon copies of those asked the night before. Yet while Monday’s answers tended toward political pablum, Tuesday’s responses were far more substantive and thoughtful.
Likewise, the candidates themselves seemed noticeably more focused. Fry was in top form, Lynch was combative, Norman was his calm, steady self, and Sanford was at his best when discussing fiscal issues.
For the second night in a row, there was very little daylight between the four contenders on their positions. Yet this time around, all seemed eager to go the extra mile to ensure voters understood what they really thought and felt.
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Consider these examples:
Fry on China buying U.S. land: “The Chinese Communist Party is one of the worst offenders against the United States. My hometown is Surfside Beach, where a Chinese spy balloon was taken down over our shores. The threat from the Chinese Communist Party is real. We have to confront that challenge, and that means stopping their farmland investments, period, in the United States.”
Lynch on ending the Senate filibuster: “I’m tired of the games that we’re watching as citizens in this country where we’re not doing the business for the people. A filibuster is just a shell game. It is a stall tactic. We can’t do that in our business. We can’t close our business for 45 days… And I won’t put up with it. We’ll nuke the filibuster and do business where the people can see how we vote.”
Norman on his U.S. Supreme Court litmus test: “Are you a strict constitutionalist? Will you abide by the Constitution? Or are you gonna be a politician in a robe? That’s what the Democrats have put up. That’s why the Democrats are talking about expanding the Supreme Court and everything else… We’ve got to replace the Democrats who have gone off the rails with their socialistic ideas. We can’t abide by it.”
Sanford on the Trump tariffs: “We need to be very judicious in the use of tariffs, and particularly changing those tariffs… I would applaud the president in what he’s tried to get at, which is to say, how do we level the playing field? But we’ve got to be very careful in a state like South Carolina. We have more foreign direct investment in this state than any other state domestically in the United States.”
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Democrats are putting ACTIVISTS on the bench! Democrats want to EXPAND THE COURT! We need a Justice who will stand by the Constitution, NOT a politician in a robe. pic.twitter.com/pCjXeOXeh7
— Ralph Norman (@RalphNorman) August 4, 2026
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Yet while the answers may have been more thoughtful and detailed than those offered during the previous debate, something was missing this time around. There was a paucity of memorable moments, an absence of pithy lines or humorous exchanges that made people laugh out loud.
There were also few notable zingers zapping contenders – no exchanges that prompted people to remark at work the next day, “did you hear what that guy running for Senate said in last night’s debate?”
Which begs the question: are South Carolinians even paying attention to this special election?
Also missing from either exchange were the sort of full-throated attacks one typically sees in a campaign’s closing days. True, Lynch went after Norman once again – hitting him hard on a controversial economic development issue that’s very close to him.
“You voted against Trump’s tariffs on China solar companies,” Lynch said. “And you advocated for Silfab to come into your backyard and advocated for tax breaks for them. And it’s poisoning the ground, the water, the schools that are there, that there’s been reports of 911 calls with people leaving that factory vomiting up blood. So it’s, are we America first or not?”
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Talk is cheap. Ralph Norman co-sponsored legislation to repeal Trump’s tariff on Chinese solar imports; he advocated for tax breaks for Silfab, which now poisons York County; and he endorsed Nikki Haley in 2024 against President Trump.
— Mark Lynch for U.S. Senate (@MarkLynchSC) August 3, 2026
We need a Congress that stands with… pic.twitter.com/y43ML3MCIK
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In his rebuttal, Norman brushed Lynch’s charge aside.
“It’s silly season with what you’re saying,” he said. “Silfab was supported by the governor. They were supported by the lieutenant governor. They took over a vacant building, so you were nowhere to be seen when we were having the debate, nor did you come when we had the open discussion.”
Lynch tried to bring it up again, without success.
Fry also dinged Nordone in absentia, saying, “we had an earth-shattering moment last night, where one of the candidates who’s not on stage said that she wanted unfettered data centers in the state of South Carolina, without local control, without local buy-in. That’s unacceptable.”
Fry’s remark was the only time Nordone was referenced during the hour-long exchange.
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That was as close as the candidates came to mixing it up. One quick round of closing statements, and the debate phase of this abbreviated campaign was over.
Those waiting to vote until next Tuesday, the actual primary day, are being bombarded with a final round of digital, cable, and broadcast TV commercials to persuade them. And the amount of money already spent by several leading candidates is impressive.
Spending tabulations shared by a veteran political strategist with this news outlet showed that heading into Monday night’s debate, Sanford’s campaign had already booked $618,505 worth of television advertising. Lynch’s campaign was second with $210,198, followed by Fry at $133,773, Norman at $129,664, and Nordone at a mere $19,457.
But those numbers tell only part of the story. That’s because several candidate-aligned PACs were also placing big buys. Fry’s super PAC led with $613,127, trailed by Nordone’s super PAC with $258,643. Nordone was also the beneficiary of a $103,836 joint buy with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
Candidates were also dropping big dollars on digital ads, text messages and glossy direct mail pieces.
While the GOP nomination is the prize, with so many candidates in the field it’s unlikely any of the contenders will win a majority of votes on the first ballot. That means the top two contenders will advance to a head-to-head runoff election on August 25, 2026. Recent polling shows Nordone, Fry and Norman as the most likely candidates to qualify for a spot in that upcoming head-to-head matchup.
BANNER VIA: WCBD/FACEBOOK
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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