With President Donald Trump’s encouragement, Sen. Darline Graham will seek a full term to succeed her late brother, Lindsey Graham, setting up a potential battle with a pair of House Republicans who are also jostling for the seat.
“I’m in,” Darline Graham told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview scheduled to air Monday night.
Earlier Monday, South Carolina Rep. Russell Fry announced he would run in the Aug. 11 special election Republican primary to replace Lindsey Graham on the ballot, two days after House colleague Ralph Norman also kicked off a campaign.
With filing for the primary opening at noon on Tuesday, more contenders could join the field, including former Gov. Mark Sanford and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. Businessman Mark Lynch, who lost last month’s primary to Lindsey Graham, and attorney Duke Buckner, a former House hopeful, have also launched bids.
But another prominent member of South Carolina’s congressional delegation, Rep. Nancy Mace, announced Monday that she would not make a play for the seat, citing her advocacy on behalf of sexual abuse victims. She will retire from the House early next year.
“I’m not running for the Senate — because I have some unfinished business,’’ Mace said on social media. “Since I stood on that House floor, I’ve been fighting for every woman and girl who was told to stay silent. I want justice — and that day is coming.”
Following Lindsey Graham’s unexpected death, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to fill the remainder of her late brother’s term through early January. On Friday, Trump announced he would back her if she sought a full term.
In her Fox News interview, Darline Graham reflected on the enormity of the decision but said she feels an “inner peace.”
“It is a tremendous amount of pressure,’’ she said of Trump urging her to run. “’I’ve been praying a lot, talking to my family, but with the love of my family, with the support of [Graham’s] staff … I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to issue an endorsement in the Senate contest Monday but called Graham a “very accomplished person in her own right.”
“It sounds like there are a number who are moving forward with campaigns,” he told reporters in the Capitol. “It’s going to be a short campaign season.”
The race to select a GOP Senate nominee will unfold on a truncated timeline: Under South Carolina law, the special primary election to replace Lindsey Graham on the November ballot will be held on Aug. 11, with a runoff election between the top two finishers scheduled for Aug. 25 if no one receives a majority of the vote.
The filing deadline to run in the special primary is July 28, the same day as Graham’s funeral in Washington.
The winner of the GOP primary will face the Democratic Senate nominee, pediatrician Annie Andrews.
Both Fry and Norman are pitching themselves as strong conservative advocates for Trump’s MAGA agenda.
“We need a conservative fighter in the Senate who delivers real results. I will be your conservative MAGA candidate in the special primary Senate election this summer,’’ Fry said in a statement. “I’m ready for the fight, and I’m all in.”
An attorney and former member of the state Legislature, Fry was first elected to the deep-red 7th District in 2022 after ousting Republican Rep. Tom Rice in the primary with Trump’s support. Rice had voted to impeach Trump over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Fry made that vote the main issue of his primary campaign, saying Rice broke voters’ trust.
Norman’s relationship with the president is more complicated. He was one of just two House members who backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley during the 2024 Republican presidential primaries. He endorsed Trump after Haley dropped out of the race.
In his Senate announcement, Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, described himself as “a fighter who will stand with President Trump and carry on Lindsey Graham’s legacy!”
Norman, who finished third in last month’s race for the gubernatorial nomination, was already on track to retire from the House. His Senate bid has won the support of GOP Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah.
On Monday, Norman urged Fry to remain in the House, asserting that his decision to seek the Senate seat could jeopardize Speaker Mike Johnson’s precarious hold on the majority.
“I respect Russell Fry and I have enjoyed serving with him in the House, but the reality is, his candidacy could leave his seat vacant until May 18th,’’ Norman wrote on social media. “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.”
Mace, who also lost a bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination last month, lobbed a similar attack against Fry.
“If you’re running for two offices at once, you’ve already told us who you are. That’s not about politics anymore — that’s about power,’’ she said on social media. “You’re either with the people you serve or you’re not.”
The legality of seeking two offices simultaneously is not in question. On Wednesday, the South Carolina Election Commission addressed the matter and concluded that “as a practical matter, candidates have appeared on general election ballots for more than one office in previous South Carolina elections.”
