LEXINGTON — Four days before the start of early voting, Republican hopefuls seeking the party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham made their pitch to voters at a Lexington County high school.
More than 400 attendees filed into the auditorium of River Bluff High School Saturday to hear from the crowded slate of nine candidates, in this order:
Candidates spoke separately, with the order predetermined through a drawing Friday. Each had 6 minutes to make a campaign speech and answer one question from a high school student.
Nearly all the candidates used part of their time to stress their support of the Trump administration’s crackdown on people living in the country illegally. They also talked about the need to rein in federal spending, which appealed to attendees.
Only two candidates pushed back against the Trump administration by opposing how it’s handled the war in Iran.
Sanford said the president should come to Congress to ask for permission. McBride said he thinks the United States needs to get out entirely.
That would be a sharp contrast to Lindsey Graham, who touted his influence on Trump’s decision to attack Iran.
Norman took a more Graham-like approach, calling for a well-funded military and peace through strength.
Shepherd said the U.S. should not be providing humanitarian aid to other countries but also said he supported Israeli troops in the Israel-Hamas war.
Buckner said he wants to ban all foreign nationals from owning land in the United States and thinks people should have to show proof of citizenship before buying a house or renting an apartment.
Following the event, 265 attendees participated in a straw poll. The top vote-getters were Darline Graham, with 25% of the vote; Fry, with 23%; and Norman, with 20%.
Viewers statewide can watch five of the candidates who met the state GOP’s polling criteria debate Monday night.
Voters’ takeaways
For Neil Derrick, a 74-year-old retired personal fitness business owner from Columbia, it’s Darline Graham who has risen to the top. Sworn in July 14 to fulfill the remainder of her brother’s fourth term, which ends in January, Graham decided to enter the race for the next six-year term at the urging of President Donald Trump.
“She was thrust into this position,” Derrick said, but she answered the call.
Derrick thinks she stands the best chance of following in the steps of her older brother, who died unexpectedly of a ruptured aorta on July 11 in Washington, D.C.
Derrick said he didn’t always agree with the late senator.
“But he was solid, whether you liked him or not,” Derrick said.
He noted that Darline Graham has the support of her brother’s longtime staffers, who remain in the office.
That wasn’t enough, however, to sway Melodie Ingwersen.
“We don’t really know her personality,” Ingwersen said of Darline Graham.
Instead, the 75-year-old former toy shop owner from Columbia is leaning toward supporting Norman.
“It comes down to who can carry the weight of the job,” she said. “Norman already has experience in Congress. Plus, he hasn’t been there forever, so he’s still in tune with South Carolina.”
Norman, of Rock Hill, has represented the 5th District since 2017. Anchored in York County, the district covers the fast-growing Charlotte suburbs south to Kershaw and parts of Sumter County.
Ingwersen’s greatest concerns are the growing size of the national budget and passage of the SAVE America Act, which adds voter ID requirements nationwide and requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Lindsey Graham co-sponsored and advocated for the measure, which has stalled in the U.S. Senate after passing the House.
It was the first measure Darline Graham signed on to after being sworn in. And Norman has made its passage a central part of his message.
“It’s so important to have someone who can make grounded, wise decisions, not just sound bites,” Ingwersen said.
Leigh Parker, a 59-year-old business analyst from Aiken, said she voted for Lynch in his unsuccessful run against Lindsey Graham and she’s sticking with him in the special primary.
It’s Lynch’s embrace of Christianity following a battle with addiction that has earned her support.
“If we don’t come back to Christian values, nothing can save us,” she said.
Many others walked away from the event still undecided.
That included Scott Reagan, a 45-year-old software salesman from Lexington, who said he was still trying to make up his mind between two or three candidates.
Aiken County Republican Party Secretary Denise Brown and her husband, Joe Brown, said they came in weighing their choice between two candidates, but after hearing from some of the lesser-known people in the race, their list expanded to three or four.
The Browns said the economy, immigration and government spending and oversight are top issues for them.
The event was co-hosted by the state GOP, Republican gubernatorial nominee Alan Wilson, and the Lexington One school district’s Center for Law and Global Policy.
Watch the candidates
The five candidates selected for Monday’s televised debate are Fry, Darline Graham, Lynch, Norman and Sanford. The one-hour debate starts at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast and streamed live across Gray Media stations in the state.
Chairman Drew McKissick said it gives voters statewide a chance to hear directly from the leading candidates.
“As Republicans consider who should represent us on the ballot and represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate for the next six years, it’s critical that they have an opportunity to compare the candidates on the issues and how they communicate their ideas to the public,” he said in a statement.
The special primary is Aug. 11, with a runoff likely on Aug. 25.
A three-day window of early voting starts Wednesday.
Two more GOP Stump Stops where people can hear from all candidates are planned in the Lowcountry and Pee Dee. The event at the Charleston Rifle Club starts at 5:15 p.m. Thursday. Details for the Aug. 8 event in Florence are still in the works.
The winner of the contest will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the SC Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Is the primary job of SC’s US senator to support Trump? Here’s how 5 candidates answered.
BY SEANNA ADCOX - AUGUST 4, 2026 4:00 AM
COLUMBIA — Questions about the war in Iran and candidates’ general willingness to buck President Donald Trump provided some of the biggest distinctions between Republicans on stage Monday asking South Carolinians to support their bid for U.S. Senate.
The winner of the special GOP primary will replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham as the GOP nominee for November’s general election. The televised debate offered voters statewide a chance to hear from the frontrunners. According to the state GOP, five of its nine certified candidates met the debate’s polling criteria.
Certified GOP candidates:
A judge will decide whether Danny Ford II will be put on the ballot.
The one-hour debate mostly saw the five candidates agreeing with each other. But they differed on whether the senator’s primary job is to support Trump’s agenda.
Two gave a resolute “yes:” Sen. Darline Graham, sister of the late senator; and U.S. Rep. Russell Fry of the 7th District.
Former Gov. Mark Sanford, who in 2019 briefly challenged Trump’s re-election, said his readiness to disagree sets him apart in the crowded field.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and Upstate businessman Mark Lynch were somewhere in between.
It was the first debate for Graham, who was sworn in July 14 to fulfill her brother’s term that ends in January. Not expected to seek the full term, she jumped into the race after Trump simultaneously encouraged and endorsed her campaign.
“This is simple: I completely support the president’s agenda. I’m 100% behind him,” said Graham, of Lexington. “I am honored to have his endorsement.”
Fry, first elected to Congress in 2022 with Trump’s endorsement, also gave an unequivocal “yes.” Many expected Fry to get Trump’s endorsement again.
“The president was elected as commander in chief,” said Fry, a former legislator from the Grand Strand. “He is the coach. It is frustrating for our conservative voters to constantly see people grandstand and jump up and down and oppose him.
“People elected us to do a job,” he continued, adding the president has an “open phone line” to talk through disagreements. “They expect us to get the job done, not grandstand and not get in the way.”
Norman, of Rock Hill, said he supports the president’s agenda and thinks he’s done a great job but said the president likes to hear varying opinions.
“You can disagree with him. He loves competing ideas,” said the 5th District congressman, who flipped his vote for House Speaker Mike Johnson in January 2025 after taking a phone call from Trump on the House floor. “That’s how he makes the final decision. Typically, it’s the right decision.”
Lynch responded “yes,” and noted he voted for Trump every time he was on the ballot, but followed that up with “iron sharpens iron” — that disagreements can bring success.
“I’m not afraid to bring up a question or something I don’t think is right with anybody,” he said. “With that comes the best decisions.”
Sanford, whose last term in Congress was during Trump’s first two years in office, said he thinks the job entails both supporting and disagreeing with the president.
While mostly supporting him, “where I disagree, I have disagreed. And I think that’s the American way,” said Sanford, whose brief presidential run included news conferences across South Carolina with a life-size cardboard cutout of Trump.
“It’s OK to occasionally disagree on things,” Sanford said. That includes getting the authorization of Congress to wage war.
The war in Iran
On whether it was time for the war in Iran to end, Sanford said he applauds Trump’s efforts to wipe out terrorism and prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. Still, he said, only Congress can declare war.
The last time Congress formally declared war with a country was in 1942, during World War II, according to the U.S. Senate.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate narrowly blocked a War Powers Resolution that could require an end to hostilities. In the 49-50 vote, three Republicans joined Democrats in voting “yes.”
Sanford said his position is personal. As governor, he attended funerals of service members who died. “Body bags don’t go back to Washington,” they go back to service members’ home, he said.
Following the U.S. and Israeli bombing attack launched in February, Lynch blamed Trump’s decision on Lindsey Graham’s influence. On the debate stage, he said he supports Trump as the commander in chief, but “it’s time to bring our men and women home to get them out of harm’s way and get back to what’s important here in America.”
Norman and Fry both said they don’t want “boots on the ground” but believe the mission should be completed.
“Iran needs to be defanged,” Fry said.
“I think he’ll eventually, sooner rather than later, use whatever power from the air to take them out,” Norman said.
Darline Graham sounded much like her brother as she backed Trump and Israel.
“We cannot allow terrorists to build nuclear missiles because they’re going to want to kill Americans,” she said. “The more we can fight them over there and prevent it over there, the better for the United States. I’m all for peace through strength.”
Differing experience
All five candidates pointed to their backgrounds in their pitches for why they should be the GOP nominee.
In both her opening and closing statements, Graham stressed that she’s “not a politician.” Noting she “grew up in the back of a bar and liquor store,” she said she understands the struggles of average American families. She said she’s still in the majority of South Carolinians who lack enough of a rainy-day fund to cover bills for three months.
Fry, the youngest on stage at 41, has drawn a comparison to the Graham siblings’ humble beginnings. In his opening remarks, Fry said he understands “what it’s like when every dollar mattered because my family lived it.” A native of Surfside Beach, Fry said he grew up in a “cinder block house with no heat or air conditioning.”
And he criticized several of his opponents without naming them. In a swipe at Graham, he said, “I didn’t inherit a record. I earned it.”
Lynch, owner of Jeff Lynch Appliance Center in Greenville, pointed to his business experience, saying he’s repeatedly grown the family business over the 40 years he’s been at the helm without going into debt.
“I understand budgets,” said Lynch, who came in a distant second to Graham in the June 9 GOP primary. “I know what being debt-free means. We can’t print money out of thin air in our business.”
Norman, a member of the hardline Freedom Caucus, also stressed his business credentials. A Rock Hill developer before entering politics, he touted being “the most conservative.” First elected to the state House in 2004 and Congress in 2017, he ended his pitch by declaring he’s “tired of moderates.”
Sanford talked about his record as governor and as the 1st District congressman.
Responding to a question about people living in the country illegally, he got a bit mixed up about his record.
He pointed to REAL ID as an example of results during his two terms as governor.
“We enacted it when I was governor,” he said. “A lot of governors weren’t doing it.”
Actually, in 2007, he signed a bill refusing to comply with the post-9/11 federal law to create a national ID standard. The Legislature reversed course in 2017, when it appeared enforcement would be imminent.
He meant to say E-Verify, a spokesman said after the debate. In 2008, Sanford signed legislation requiring businesses to use the E-Verify system to check workers’ legal status or else hire only people who hold a valid driver’s license from South Carolina or other state with similar license requirements. Three years later, then-Gov. Nikki Haley signed a law expanding on the requirements for businesses and law enforcement.
Special GOP primary dates:
Aug. 5-7: Early voting 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click here for a listing of locations by county.
Aug. 11: Primary, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Aug. 25: Runoff if no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes Aug. 11
South Carolinians who voted in the June 9 Democratic primary and/or the June 23 Democratic runoff can’t vote in the special GOP primary. The state Election Commission ruled it’s the same election cycle. Voters can participate if they voted in the Republican contests in June or didn’t vote in either party’s primary.
Seanna Adcox is a South Carolina native with three decades of reporting experience. After covering the S.C. Legislature and state politics for 18 years. she launched the SC Daily Gazette in November 2023 as the 37th state affiliate under the States Newsroom umbrella. Her previous employers include The Post and Courier and The Associated Press.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
