2 SC congressmen launch bids for US Senate, as Darline Graham says ‘I’m in’

COLUMBIA — U.S. Sen. Darline Graham confirmed Monday she will seek election to the U.S. Senate. Her opponents in the race to replace her late brother on November’s ballot will include two Republican congressmen, who launched bids ahead of candidate filing.

“I’m in,” Graham told Fox News for a segment airing Monday night.

She was sworn in last week to fulfill the remainder of Lindsey Graham’s fourth term, which ends in January. She told host Sean Hannity she decided to seek the next six-year term after much prayer and discussion with her family.

“It is a tremendous amount of pressure,” she said about President Donald Trump’s “ask” that she jump in.

“I know I’m a hard worker,” Graham said in a portion of Hannity’s interview released Monday afternoon. “I learned that from Lindsey.”

Graham, 62, who lives in Lexington, has led the state Commission for the Blind since 2019 but has never run for office: “Will it be difficult? Yes, absolutely,” she said about a campaign.

“I feel like I can do it,” she added, noting her three decades in state government. “I feel an inner peace about it.”

The televised interview comes after U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry launched their own campaigns for the Republican Party’s nomination in the Aug. 11 special election. Graham’s sudden death July 11 from a ruptured aorta created South Carolina’s first open race for U.S. Senate in 22 years.

Filing opens at noon Tuesday and closes July 28. Early voting begins Aug. 5. A primary runoff, if needed, will be Aug. 25.

The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November. People who voted in last month’s Democratic primary, which put the Lowcountry pediatrician on the ballot, can’t participate in next month’s contests. Voters can help decide the new GOP nominee if they voted in the June Republican contests, which Graham easily won, or didn’t vote in either party’s primary.

Both Norman and Fry touted their support of Trump in their campaign announcements, but neither enters the race with the president’s backing. Instead, Trump gave his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to Darline Graham on Friday.

President Trump encourages Sen. Darline Graham to seek full, 6-year term

“RUN, DARLINE, RUN!” his social media post concluded.

She released a letter Saturday thanking South Carolinians without specifying her decision. The Fox News interview cleared that up.

Ralph Norman

Norman’s bid, launched Saturday, comes after an unsuccessful run for governor. He placed third in last month’s GOP gubernatorial primary. His tenure representing the 5th District ends in January.

The 73-year-old has a reputation as a fiscal hawk, with seats on the House budget, financial services and rules committees. He’s also a member of the ultra-conservative U.S. House Freedom Caucus and helped launch a South Carolina chapter of the group, which has spent the past several years warring with the House majority GOP caucus.

Norman entered politics after growing his father’s construction business into one of the state’s most successful commercial real estate firms. A former state House representative, the Rock Hill Republican was first elected to Congress in a 2017 special election to represent the district that spans 10 counties from Spartanburg southeast to Sumter.

Norman touted his ultra-conservative record in a news release, adding that he would push for the Senate to pass a bill adding ID requirements for voters, which the House has already advanced. Sen. Lindsey Graham co-sponsored the Senate version.

“South Carolina has always been a rock-solid conservative stronghold, and at this critical moment we MUST SEND A PROVEN AMERICA FIRST FIGHTER to the U.S. Senate to help President Trump,” Norman said in the news release.

Norman was never expected to get Trump’s endorsement for Senate. An ally to Gov. Nikki Haley while in the state House, Norman backed her over Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, and Haley endorsed his gubernatorial bid.

Russell Fry

But there was wide speculation that Fry would again get Trump’s endorsement. The president’s surprise pick of Darline Graham didn’t stop his campaign launch.

Fry, an attorney who lives in Murrells Inlet, announced his run for the Senate seat Monday morning.

“South Carolinians need a conservative fighter in the U.S. Senate who actually delivers results,” Fry said in a news release. “There’s too much at stake to take a chance, so I’m answering the call.”

A former state representative, Fry first won the 7th Congressional District seat in 2022. He had Trump’s endorsement in ousting 10-year incumbent Rep. Tom Rice, who voted to impeach the president after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

In his campaign announcement Monday, the 41-year-old focused on the rising prices of gas and groceries. He aligned himself with Graham, saying they both came from humble beginnings — Graham from his parents’ bar in Central and Fry from parents living paycheck to paycheck in Surfside Beach.

“There is no other way to put it: Lindsey Graham was one of a kind,” Fry said. “There is no replacing him. But I believe the best way to honor his legacy is to fight alongside the President just as steadfastly as he did.”

It’s official: SC Republicans already on the ballot can run for Senate too

Questions over timing

Fry is not withdrawing his bid for reelection to the House, spokesman Luke Byars said, meaning Fry could be on the ballot twice in November.

After receiving the question multiple times, the State Election Commission confirmed last week that candidates can run for more than one seat simultaneously.

If Fry were to win both seats in November, he would have to choose one. That would trigger another special election, potentially leaving the seat vacant for the opening months of 2027.

The exact timing would depend on when Fry resigned his House seat. State law requires special elections take place 20 weeks after a seat becomes empty (when not involving the death of a nominee, as in Lindsey Graham’s case, which is separate code), though the U.S. Constitution gives governors authority to declare a U.S. House vacancy and order a special election.

The last time a resignation created a vacancy in the U.S. House was 2017, when 5th District Rep. Mick Mulvaney resigned to join the first Trump administration. Gov. Henry McMaster’s Feb. 16 order followed the timeline in state law, and Norman won the special election four months later.

Norman criticized his primary opponent for seeking a job that could leave House Republicans temporarily without a vote.

“This would leave his constituents unrepresented, jeopardize President Trump’s agenda, and put the House at risk of being led by a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries,” Norman said in a social media post. “We can’t let that happen!!”

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who also lost her bid for governor last month, echoed Norman’s concern that a dwindling number of Republican representatives could allow Democrats to elect Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaker.

“If you’re running for two offices at once, you’ve already told us who you are,” Mace, whose term representing the 1st District ends in January, said in a social media post. “That’s not about politics anymore — that’s about power.”

Mace announced Monday that she is not running for Senate.

John Vincent of Myrtle Beach, a Democrat challenging Fry for the 7th Congressional District, said Fry’s run for Senate made his reelection campaign seem like a fallback option in case of a loss.

“The families of the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand deserve a congressman who actually wants this job, not one holding onto it as a consolation prize,” Vincent said in a news release.

Fry had no primary challengers last month.

Other candidates

Also publicly announcing a bid are Mark Lynch, an appliance center owner who challenged Graham during the June primary, and Duke Buckner, who has previously run against U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Lynch said he planned to “finish the fight.” He received far more votes than any of the other five Republicans challenging Graham in June, though Lynch was still 28 percentage points behind Graham, who won with nearly 57% of ballots cast.

“I’m committed to finish what God has called us to since February of 2025,” Lynch wrote in a social media post.

Buckner is also coming off unsuccessful congressional campaigns. Although he didn’t run for office this year, he has twice challenged Clyburn, the state’s longest-serving representative, in the heavily Democratic 6th District.

Buckner, a Walterboro attorney, made the decision to run for Senate, which he announced over the weekend, “after much prayer,” he said in a social media post.

The list could get much longer before filing ends at noon July 28.