By admin 
Two months ago, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham led an obscure state agency tasked with helping blind South Carolinians. Most didn’t know her name.
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But with the help of President Donald Trump, she secured the Republican nomination Tuesday to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate after a speedy, six-week special primary prompted by her brother’s sudden death.
“We’ve grieved as a family, and we’ve all grieved together as a state, haven’t we?” Graham said Tuesday night. “But tonight, you know what? We stand back up the way South Carolinians have done and look forward to the future.”
Graham won by nearly five percentage points and about 18,000 votes in the runoff with all precincts counting, according to state Election Commission results. All results are unofficial. The Associated Press called the race around 9 p.m. for Graham
More than 369,000 voted in the special election runoff, a roughly 34,000 increase from the initial primary Aug. 11.
Trump’s political and financial weight helped Graham, a political newcomer, beat U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the hard-right U.S. House Freedom Caucus. The two candidates finished first and second in the Republican special primary Aug. 11.
In his concession speech Tuesday, Norman told supporters he “hated” the results of the election for the state.
“I hate it for the state. I really hate it,” Norman said. “… But the public, South Carolina made the decision.”
Graham, 62, grew up in Central, S.C., near Clemson University with her older brother, Lindsey Graham. The two were raised behind their parents’ poolroom, liquor store, bar and restaurant. While speaking about her late brother Tuesday night, Graham teared up.
“I have mixed emotions right now,” Graham said. “I’m still feeling grief, heartache, and immense gratitude.”
“Thank you, Lindsey, for your service to South Carolina and to this country,” Graham continued. “It’s just not the same without you here.”
While Lindsey Graham became one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate and a close ally of Trump, his sister Darline Graham lived a more private life in Lexington County. Before Lindsey Graham died unexpectedly July 11, she led the state Commission for the Blind for seven years and sometimes campaigned with her older brother.
That changed when Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to finish out her late brother’s term July 13, and at the time, many did not expect her to run for the seat opened by his death.
She initially accepted the role of U.S. Senator as an honor to Lindsey Graham. But throughout the campaign, she has made efforts to differentiate herself by focusing on affordability and outlining some places she disagreed.
Still, much of her campaign and office staff remained the same.
“I will work as hard as he did, and I won’t go up there and just say no,” Graham told reporters Monday. “I’m going to bring resources and help back to this state just like Lindsey did.”
Graham has never been elected to public office. Neither has Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, who Graham will face in November.
While campaigning, Graham’s inexperience was at times on display. In a debate, she said she’s “not that informed on national security” when asked a question about Taiwan and the South China Sea.
She also at times didn’t, or was unable to, answer questions about where she stood on the H1-B program and whether she would have voted to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. But on the campaign trail, she painted her personal and professional experience as a state agency leader as qualifications for the U.S. Senate. Graham also at times flexed her lack of political experience, comparing her record to Trump’s.
Trump worked to get Graham elected in the Palmetto State this summer. He attended virtual rallies and campaigned in Myrtle Beach for Graham on Friday night, something he hasn’t done for any other South Carolina candidate this election cycle so far. Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc., which hasn’t been involved in many races so far this year, also spent more than $827,000 in the days before the election, according to a campaign finance record and media reports.
At the time of Graham’s death, he and Trump were close allies and friends.
“For Lindsey, I want it to happen,” Trump said Friday of a runoff victory for Darline Graham.
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Graham often depicted herself as the one to help Trump deliver his agenda and criticized Norman for sometimes standing up to the president. Norman initially did not support a large spending and policy bill, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but later voted for it. She thanked Trump for his support Tuesday.
“We want all the people who believe in what President Trump is trying to do, all those who believe in the conservative cause to get out and vote tomorrow for Darline,” McMaster said in Columbia on Monday.
Powerful South Carolina Republican politicians lined up behind Graham in the days after the Aug. 11 primary, including McMaster and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
The appointed senator also had the help of multiple super PACs, which spent millions supporting her or opposing Norman. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by Scott, directly coordinated with Graham on campaign advertisements too, a practice allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this summer.
Graham’s supporters gathered in a small room in a law office near downtown Columbia. Among attendees were state lawmakers, longtime Graham staff members and U.S. Rep. William Timmons.
She took the stage after 9:30 p.m. with her family, staff members and other prominent supporters, including McMaster.
Graham said she would work hard to win over Norman supporters and unite the Republican Party ahead of the general election in November.
“We cannot and must not allow Democratic Socialists to gain a foothold in our conservative state like South Carolina,” Graham said.
She’ll compete against Democratic nominee Andrews, a pediatrician from the Lowcountry, in November. Andrews and Graham both said affordability is a prominent issue they want to address in Congress.
Andrews said in a statement Tuesday she wanted to debate Graham ahead of the general election.
“Tonight, Republicans nominated a candidate who was appointed to this seat because of her last name and elevated by Donald Trump’s endorsement and political machine,” Andrews said in a statement Tuesday night. “But no appointment, endorsement or family connection entitles anyone to six years in the United States Senate. This seat belongs to the people of South Carolina.”
Norman, 73, campaigned on slashing government spending and often said he would support Trump’s agenda. He also flexed his conservative voting record and business experience.
Norman, gathered supporters in the Magnolia Room in Rock Hill, his hometown. While conceding, attendees booed when Norman mentioned Trump’s involvement in the race.
Norman, a congressman since 2017, said he planned to call Graham to congratulate her and would support her in the general election. The moment brought some levity to the room when Norman appeared briefly to stumble over Graham’s name, saying he would support “her.” Supporters laughed, and Norman’s wife called out, “Whatever her name is!”
Despite the defeat, Norman told supporters there would be “no tears,” saying his campaign had done everything it could and would “live to fight another day.”
He suggested that fight may not be another campaign.
“My role may be in something else,” Norman said. “It won’t be in the political arena.”
Norman joined the U.S. Senate special primary fresh off a third-place finish in the GOP governor primary. While Norman lost the governor bid, his monthslong statewide campaigning likely helped him in the breakneck special primary where candidates had little time to reach voters, political watchers said.
The congressman campaigned without the political clout that comes with an endorsement from Trump, which Norman told reporters he asked for. Norman also self-fundraised a bulk of his campaign, pouring more than $2 million into the effort, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Lindsey Graham served in the U.S. Senate for nearly four, six-year terms. His death spurred the quick special primary where initially 10 candidates campaigned for the rarely open nomination the late senator won outright in June.
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This is a breaking news story and will be updated.