Darline Graham Wins South Carolina Senate Primary, Powered by Trump's Full Backing

Darline Graham, a 62-year-old former disability services administrator with no prior political experience, defeated five-term congressman Ralph Norman in the Republican special primary runoff for South Carolina's Senate seat — the same seat her late brother Lindsey Graham held for over two decades before his death six weeks ago. Graham won with roughly 52% of the vote to Norman's 48%, a margin of about 18,000 votes with more than 95% of ballots counted.

Trump's intervention was decisive. The president hosted a rally for Graham in Myrtle Beach, directed his super PAC's financial firepower behind her candidacy — with reporting noting approximately $8 million in spending around the race — and pressured fellow Republican elected officials to fall in line with endorsements. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster endorsed Graham in the final stretch. Norman, the vice chair of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, conceded without a prepared speech, saying he couldn't understand why Trump took sides but acknowledged the president had the right to do so. Trump's Senate primary endorsement record remains undefeated when he commits fully to a candidate.

Graham will now face Democrat Annie Andrews, a physician, in the general election for a full six-year term. Graham wasted no time going on offense, labeling Andrews the most radical liberal ever nominated for statewide office by South Carolina Democrats and previewing attacks on her positions regarding gender and abortion. South Carolina is a deeply red state, making Graham a heavy favorite in November.

Elsewhere, in Oklahoma's Republican gubernatorial runoff, Trump-endorsed Mike Mazzei — a financial planning firm head and former state budget secretary — held an extremely thin lead of under one percentage point over Attorney General Gentner Drummond with 90% of votes in, fewer than 3,000 ballots separating them. In other Oklahoma results, progressive nurse N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas won the Democratic Senate nomination, setting up a near-impossible general election fight against Republican Representative Kevin Hern for the seat formerly held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Oklahoma voters also enshrined voter ID requirements directly into the state constitution. In Georgia, Everton Blair Jr., former Gwinnett County School Board chair, won a special House runoff, narrowing Republicans' House majority to just four seats.