The race to replace Lindsey Graham gets UGLY as his sister Darline comes up short… triggering a runoff
Developed over time first seen 3 hours ago
A crowded race to replace Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina has taken a bitter turn after his sister, Darline Graham, failed to secure enough votes to win outright, forcing the contest into a runoff. The development highlights how contested and personal the battle for Graham's seat has become, with family ties doing little to guarantee an easy path to the nomination.
Full details of the vote tallies and the identities of the other contenders were not available in the material provided, but the outcome means voters in South Carolina will need to return to the polls for a second round to determine who ultimately advances. The runoff underscores the competitiveness of the race and suggests the eventual nominee will emerge only after a further contest, prolonging uncertainty over who will succeed Graham.
- Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham's sister, fell short in the primary vote
- Result triggers a runoff election in South Carolina
- Race to succeed Graham has turned increasingly contentious
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South Carolina is choosing a new senator because Lindsey Graham, who has held the seat since 2003, is stepping away from it, opening up one of the state's two US Senate positions. That has drawn a large field of Republican hopefuls hoping to win the party's nomination, since the eventual GOP candidate is widely expected to be strongly placed to win the seat outright in this traditionally conservative state.
One notable name in the contest is Darline Graham, the senator's sister, whose candidacy has attracted attention partly because of her family connection to the outgoing senator. South Carolina's nominating system requires a candidate to win more than half the vote to secure the nomination outright; falling short of that threshold sends the top contenders into a runoff, a second, head-to-head vote to decide the winner.
This matters because a US Senate seat carries significant weight in national politics, and how the succession plays out will shape who represents South Carolina in Washington for years to come. A runoff typically means a further period of campaigning and uncertainty before voters settle on their nominee.
More coverage
- Daily Mail — Lindsey Graham's sister advances to runoff election in race to replace her late brother