U.S. President Donald Trump gestures in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
After South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster temporarily appointed Sen. Lindsey Graham's younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to the GOP senator's seat following his unexpected death in July, President Donald Trump endorsed her as a permanent candidate. But South Carolina's GOP U.S. Senate primary is proving to be much more contentious than Trump would like. And according to reporting from the Washington Post, the highly competitive primary is putting Trump on a collision course with fellow Republicans in the deep red state.
The primary is set for this Tuesday, August 11, and Post reporter Natalie Allison emphasizes that South Carolina Republicans are a long way from coalescing around the Trump-supported Nordone.
"The contest to succeed Lindsey Graham, complete with a crowded field of Republicans, offers a rare dynamic for a red-state primary in the age of President Donald Trump: There's no clear Trump-aligned candidate," Allison reports in the Post. "Trump is trying to rally his supporters behind Graham's sister, Sen. Darline Graham, a candidate who many conservative activists say doesn't have a history of being active in his movement. And each of the main contenders have found themselves out of step with the president at some point — an awkward dilemma that has made his influence in Tuesday's election less firm than usual. Adding to the uncertainty: Trump's endorsement failed here just two months ago, in the June primary for governor, in which he had to issue a last-minute dual endorsement to avoid an embarrassing loss."
According to Allison, the "two candidates who pledge the most loyalty to Trump" — Nordone and Rep. Russell Fry — "have personal voting records that complicate their pro-Trump credentials." And another candidate in that primary, Rep. Ralph Norman, endorsed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
"A fourth candidate, former (South Carolina) Gov. Mark Sanford, was a Trump critic during his final years in Congress, ran against Trump for president in 2020 and disagrees with the president on the Iran war and more," Allison notes. "Tuesday's primary is all but certain to result in a runoff, with none of the candidates likely to be obtain 50 percent of the vote. Darline Graham has an advantage in most polls,but not large enough to avoid a runoff."
The Post reporter continues, "In recent days, a super PAC supporting Graham has attacked both Fry and Sanford, a sign of the tight margins in the abbreviated primary campaign. Veteran Republican operatives and conservative activists in the state say the unusual nature of the special election — being held exactly a month after Lindsey Graham unexpectedly died — means any of the four top contenders could make the runoff, which would be held August 25."
According to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson — the state's 2026 GOP nominee for governor — the Senate primary remains highly competitive.
Wilson told the Post, "What I'm hearing is, people are like, 'The election's on Tuesday, and I still don't know who I'm voting for.' I’ve heard that more than anything, because they're so impressed with many of these candidates. While they love the president and they're supportive of the president, they want a candidate who can stand on their own two feet."