South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham has won the state’s Republican Senate primary runoff, defeating Rep. Ralph Norman with the backing of President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press.
The AP called the race with Graham leading Norman by 4 percentage points. Graham, who was appointed to the seat in July after her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, died unexpectedly, will now face Democrat Annie Andrews in November’s general election.
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the race as “Solid R,” reflecting the state’s strong Republican lean. Lindsey Graham had been favored to win reelection before his death.
A test of Trump’s influence
The runoff was widely seen as a test of Trump’s sway within the GOP, as he threw his full support behind Graham. The president has traditionally played kingmaker in Republican primaries, but he has suffered a string of recent defeats.
Both Graham and Norman are Trump allies, but Norman — a hard-line House Freedom Caucus member — had occasionally clashed with the president. Norman initially supported former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries, and he has raised fiscal concerns about some of Trump’s priorities, straining their relationship at times.
Trump has spent much of this election cycle targeting fellow Republicans who have opposed him or his policies.
Graham’s path and stumbles
Graham, who has never been elected to office, came into Tuesday on somewhat shaky ground after an embarrassing debate moment last week. Asked about the importance of Taiwan to U.S. interests, she admitted she was “not that informed on national security,” raising questions about her readiness for the role.
She has since defended her performance, saying on Fox News that she doesn’t “speak politician.”
Norman, who launched an unsuccessful bid for South Carolina governor earlier this year, seized on the moment, casting himself as the proven conservative in the race.
“My opponent is unknown. She’s being backed by the Washington establishment,” Norman said on Fox News. “She’s a propped-up candidate. You could tell that during the debates. This is an important job. There is no training on the job that you can effectively do.”
Trump has stood by Graham since the days after her brother’s death. He traveled to South Carolina to campaign with her last week and held a tele-rally on Monday.
“[T]here is nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey. Darline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a WINNER all of her life, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement in the Special Election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.
Recent Trump endorsement losses
The stakes were high for Trump, whose picks in South Carolina and elsewhere have recently fallen short. In May, he endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in the GOP gubernatorial primary, only to eventually co-endorse state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who won the runoff in June. South Carolina lawmakers also dealt Trump a blow in May by scuttling his push for partisan mid-decade redistricting.
Elsewhere, Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa lost the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary in June despite Trump’s endorsement. A Trump-backed candidate lost this month in Wyoming’s Republican gubernatorial primary, and two House candidates he endorsed in Florida — Rep. Cory Mills and Catalina Lauf — lost their primaries earlier this month.
According to a CNN analysis, 10 Trump-endorsed candidates have lost their races this election cycle, matching the combined total of Trump-backed candidates who lost in the 2018, 2020, and 2024 primaries.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/25/trump-darline-graham-south-carolina-primary.html
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