By admin 
U.S. Sen. Darline Graham finished in first or second place in each of South Carolina’s 46 counties in Tuesday’s special Republican primary election, where she advanced to a runoff against U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman.
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Graham and Norman will face off in an Aug. 25 runoff to see who will replace the late Lindsey Graham on November’s ballot as the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate.
On Tuesday, Darline Graham received 32.74% of the vote to finish first in the primary. Norman was in second place with 24.65% of the vote. U.S. Rep. Russell Fry was in third place with 19.62% of the vote.
She finished first in 28 counties, including Aiken, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Richland and Lexington, where she lives.
Norman finished first in 10 counties, including York County, where he lives. He also did well in the Upstate, including Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg counties, where much of the hard-line conservative S.C. House Freedom Caucus element is from. Many members of that group backed Norman.
U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who had public support from more than 40 state lawmakers, finished first in eight counties, all in the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand, where he lives and represents.
Former Gov. Mark Sanford finished fourth in the race. He didn’t carry any counties, but finished in second place in 10 counties that Graham won.
Going into the Aug. 25 runoff between Graham and Norman, the key is who could gather enough support from voters who supported candidates who didn’t make the runoff.
In a Co/Efficient poll taken in late July, on the days of Lindsey Graham’s funeral, Darline Graham had a 40% to 35% lead over Norman in a runoff matchup. That poll found 25% of voters were undecided between the two.
That same Co/Efficient poll measured at the favorable and unfavorable ratings of Graham and Norman.
Graham had a 40% favorable rating and 17% unfavorable rating. The poll found 37% were unsure and 6% never heard of her.
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Norman, who ran for governor earlier this year, had a 33% favorable rating and 23% unfavorable rating. The poll found 35% of respondents were unsure and 9% of respondents never heard of him.
In her short time in office, Graham has sponsored the Save America Act and voted to confirm Attorney General Todd Blanche. When she’s been back in South Carolina to campaign, Graham has spoken about affordability issues.
“Rather than try and just replicate a Lindsey Graham, you know she doesn’t have the foreign policy credentials, but she has leaned into the domestic side of things, and in particular prices,” University of South Carolina Political Science Professor Kirk Randazzo said on SC ETV on Tuesday. “This is where her identity as just a regular mom, I think, is playing very well. She can talk about shopping for groceries. She can talk about the expenses, affordability, things that the Republican Party right now are wrestling with nationwide.”
Darline Graham is in a better position than the last statewide female candidate who was endorsed by President Donald Trump ahead of a primary.
In June’s GOP primary for the nomination for governor, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who entered the primary as the Trump endorsed candidate, finished in first place after receiving 28.86% of the vote with seven people on the ballot.
Attorney General Alan Wilson finished in second place, with 26.14% of the vote. After the primary, Wilson consolidated support behind his campaign. In the days leading up to the runoff, Trump issued a dual endorsement of Evette and Wilson and the attorney general ended up winning the nomination in a blowout.
Norman, who finished third in the GOP primary for governor, spent $5.6 million of his own money on his run in the June primary, which helped raise his name recognition around the state.
“Every dollar Ralph Norman spent in the GOP gubernatorial primary just paid off in spades,” Winthrop University political science professor Scott Huffmon said in a text message to The State. “He and Fry both have solid conservative bona fides, but the state learned about Ralph’s credentials in that race.”
Norman, who asked Trump for his endorsement before the primary, may have a harder time garnering a dual endorsement in this campaign. Norman backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential election until she dropped out.
It’s a message that probably will be repeated many times through Aug. 25. It already was said in a video on social media by a Security is Strength, a super PAC backing Darline Graham.
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