S.C. Succession: Nordone, Norman Advance to U.S. Senate Runoff Election

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by WILL FOLKS

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Interim U.S. senator Darline Graham Nordone and fifth district U.S. congressman Ralph Norman advanced to a GOP runoff election on Tuesday evening (August 11, 2026) in South Carolina’s hotly contested primary race to replace Nordone’s brother, the late Lindsey Graham, on the GOP ballot this fall.

The winner of that head-to-head GOP election – scheduled for August 25, 2026 – will face Democrat Annie Andrews, Libertarian Kasie Whitener, Constitution Party candidate Mark Hackett and several other independent candidates in the November 3, 2026 general election.

Graham died suddenly last month, prompting establishment S.C. governor Henry McMaster to appoint Nordone to fill his seat in the U.S. Senate an interim basis. Initially believed to be a placeholder, Nordone announced shortly thereafter that she was seeking a full, six-year term in office.

On the strength of her endorsement from U.S. president Donald Trump, Nordone captured first place in the nine-candidate GOP field – which became a moving target thanks to the S.C. Republican Party (SCGOP)’s selective enforcement of a new candidate eligibility rule.

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The SCGOP favorite-playing game was struck down by the Palmetto State’s courts – but not before absentee ballots had already been distributed.

Seventh district congressman Russell Fry – Trump’s initial favorite in this race – finished a respectable third in this crowded field, outperforming his polling but failing to achieve a breakout beyond his coastal base of support.

Meanwhile, former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford finished in fourth place – another disappointing electoral result for the man who two decades ago appeared poised to contend for the Republican presidential nomination.

Hopefully, Sanford will now go gently into that good night… although we’d advise our audience not to count on that.

With more than 95% of the vote counted, Nordone had 106,738 votes (or 32.9% of all ballots cast) compared to 78,868 (24.3%) for Norman. Fry earned 63,981 votes (19.7%) while Sanford received 49,030 votes (or 15.1%). Upstate businessman Mark Lynch finished a distant fifth with 19,310 votes (or 5.9% of all ballots cast).

“Thank you, South Carolina,” Nordone said as the votes were being counted. “I am incredibly honored and humbled by your support.”

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Norman excelled in his home base of York County – and in the socially conservative Upstate region of the state, while Nordone fared better in more left-leaning GOP enclaves like Richland and Charleston counties. Fry dominated in his congressional district on the coast – although Nordone fared much better there than expected, suppressing Fry’s statewide totals.

“I am truly humbled by the support our campaign has received from South Carolinians across the state, from the Upstate down to the Lowcountry,” Norman said. “When I entered this race, I asked South Carolinians to judge me – not by what I said, but by what I did; and they overwhelmingly supported our message.”

Norman vowed to continue his “proven conservative” record if elected to the U.S. Senate.

All told, more than 330,000 people (or roughly 11% of the state’s registered votes) participated in the GOP special primary – which was limited to voters who did not participate in June’s Democrat primary election. That turnout was significantly higher than many pundits (including this reporter) projected.

What should we expect over the next two weeks as Nordone and Norman face off head-to-head?

Put simply, a proxy war. Trump and the Republican establishment will be “all in” for Graham’s sister – hoping she will carry on her late brother’s legacy of unsustainable domestic spending and interventionist foreign policy. Conservatives, on the other hand, will rally around Norman – whom they rightfully believe would exercise more fiscal discipline in his votes in the U.S. Senate.

Nordone outspent Norman by a huge margin during the primary – including money from political action committees that supported her late brother.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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