Lindsey Graham’s seat up for grabs in South Carolina GOP special election

Sen. Darline Graham participates in a ceremonial swearing-in, in the Old Senate Chamber at the US Capitol on July 14.

South Carolina voters are considering a crowded Republican primary field in the race to succeed the late GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, including his sister Darline Graham, who was appointed to finish out his term last month and is now seeking a full term of her own.

Most of the Republicans CNN spoke with today cited experience when explaining why they voted for a particular candidate in the special Senate primary

“I had some remaining questions about her as a candidate that I didn’t feel I had with other candidates,” Emilyn Yund said of Graham, after voting in Columbia. “I voted for Russell Fry. I appreciate his previous record standing for conservative values and issues that affect us in the state.”

By contrast, she said Graham didn’t do enough during the campaign to alleviate her concerns about her lack of political experience or record on conservative issues.

“She’s just a person, you know, a civilian. She wasn’t experienced,” Republican Wendy Sweigart, who said she voted for former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, told CNN. “I did not vote for Mrs. Graham because everything was President Trump, so that kind of turned me against things. I think somebody in that position has to have a mind of their own, and not every other word was ‘I support President Trump.’”

But Rosa Boland felt like Graham’s lack of political experience is actually a benefit.

“She’s sincere,” said Boland, who cast her ballot for Graham in Lexington about half an hour after the candidate herself had done the same there. “She has a layperson attitude that’s not totally political. But yet she represents a political family who she has had some strong influence on and some strong ideas on what she feels is best for South Carolina. And just having her sincerity come forth and prayer. Her thanking everyone for prayer when she is on a commercial is important to us.”

Wisconsin voters weigh in on Francesca Hong's electability

2:06 • Source: CNN

Wisconsin voters weigh in on Francesca Hong's electability

2:06

Don’t talk to Chris Bootz about the question of “electability.”

“Well, I personally think that arguments about electability have been used very much by party elites, for example, to control the outcomes of primaries,” Bootz, a Democratic voter in Madison, Wisconsin, told CNN after casting his ballot today.

Bootz was among those voting for Francesca Hong, the democratic socialist state lawmaker, who is a leading Democratic candidate for governor. In the closing days of the race, Gov. Tony Evers and other party leaders urged voters to consider whether Hong could be elected in the fall.

That argument held little water with Bootz, saying he was enthusiastically backing Hong.

He came to his neighborhood polling place at the Covenant Presbyterian Church with Manuela Francavilla, who said she hoped the Democratic primary would send a message to the party.

“I hope this is a wake-up call for the Democratic Party,” Francavilla said. “They need to go back and look at what everyday people, normal people, actually expected and wanted, and I think that the last few years, decades, they got a little bit far away from what the people actually want.”

She, too, voted for Hong. When asked whether she believed Hong could win in November, she replied: “I hope so.”

From left: Nicole Nordone and Larry Nordone look on as Sen. Darline Graham speaks to reporters after she voted in a special Republican primary in Florence, South Carolina, on Tuesday.

Sen. Darline Graham pushed back on criticism that she has spent the majority of the campaign for today’s primary in Washington, DC, instead of holding events or meeting with voters on the ground in South Carolina.

“I don’t think I could have done anything any differently because I wanted to be in Washington as your representative, working hard, and I got back here just as soon as I possibly could,” Graham said. She did attend a SCGOP event with the majority of the other candidates on Saturday, just a few hours after she voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general.

Graham was joined at her polling place in Lexington by her husband and their 17-year-old daughter, along with several staffers. Her daughter was eligible to vote for her mother because she will turn 18 before November’s midterm election.

“It was a little different seeing my name on the ballot, and it’s a really special day. Y’all know that unfortunately today is one month since Lindsey’s passing,” Graham noted. “So an emotional day, but yet an exciting day. My daughter — this is her first time voting. So how ironic, her first time voting, she gets to vote for her mom. Special day for us.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar looks on during a hearing at the US Capitol on May 20.

Democrat Amy Klobuchar, a four-term US senator with a dominant electoral track record, cleared her primary field within weeks of entering the gubernatorial race in January, days after Gov. Tim Walz abandoned his bid for a third term.

Running virtually unopposed, and leveraging fundraising infrastructure built over two decades, Klobuchar raised over $9 million ahead of the primary and reported $4.5 million in cash on hand.

That’s given her a formidable financial advantage over potential general election rivals in the fractured Republican field – MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, and former healthcare executive and Army veteran Kendall Qualls – none of whom have raised more than $1 million.

Francesca Hong, Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Wisconsin, and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Minnesota.

Tonight’s primaries in Minnesota and Wisconsin mark the latest test of the Democratic Party’s rising progressive movement amid fresh momentum.

Following a slew of victories in blue strongholds in New York and Colorado earlier this summer, the party’s left-wing broke new ground in Michigan last week as progressives secured the Democratic nominations for critical swing seats over more moderate candidates.

Now they are looking to do the same in key races in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Here’s a snapshot:

A voter fills out their ballot at a polling place in White Bear Township, Minnesota, on Tuesday.

The first polls close at 7 p.m. ET for South Carolina’s special Republican primary to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on the ballot and in Vermont.

South Carolina starts counting slowly — less than 20% of the vote was reported in the first hour of the June primary — but speeds up, and was at 90% by 11 p.m.

Vermont follows a similar pattern. In the 2024 presidential primary, only about 10% was reported in the first hour, but 90% was in by 11 p.m.

At 8 p.m. ET, polls close in Alabama and Connecticut. In Alabama’s main primary in May, it took an hour and a half for 10% of the vote to be counted, but 75% of the vote was in by 11 p.m. and the state was basically done reporting by 12:30 a.m.

In Connecticut’s 2024 presidential primary, the state was at nearly 20% reporting in the first hour and 90% by 11 p.m. ET. This will be Connecticut’s first election with no-excuse mail voting, which could change how the state reports.

Polls in Minnesota and Wisconsin, two states which are hosting high profile Democratic primaries, close at 9 p.m. ET. While Wisconsin has the reputation for long election nights, driven largely by a long wait for absentee ballots to be reported from Milwaukee, the state reports much more quickly in lower turnout elections. In April’s state Supreme Court race, about 60% of the vote was reported in the first hour and the state was virtually done reporting at 1 a.m.

In Minnesota, only about 10% of the vote was reported an hour after the polls closed in the 2024 primary, but that was at 96% two hours later at midnight.

From left: Minnesota gubernatorial candidates Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell and Kendall Qualls, in Morgan, Minnesota, on August 5.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is running to succeed Gov. Tim Walz as Minnesota’s governor, after Walz reversed course on his election bid and dropped out of the race in January.

On the Republican side, the battle to be the GOP nominee has devolved into a contentious battle between Kendall Qualls, Lisa Demuth and Mike Lindell.

Here’s a look at the major candidates:

• Amy Klobuchar: After serving in Washington for two decades, Klobuchar has been seen as one of Minnesota’s most popular leaders and is the front-runner in the Democratic primary. She has built her campaign around a pledge to unify her state and move beyond a deadly battle with the federal government over immigration. In a video announcing her run for governor in January she denounced the “3,000 ICE agents on our streets and in our towns, sent by an administration that relishes division.”

Republican primary:

• Mike Lindell: The MyPillow founder and right-wing conspiracy theorist is a staunch ally of Donald Trump and was endorsed by the president last month, praising him as “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots” on Truth Social.

• Kendall Qualls: An Army veteran turned business executive, Qualls is the state GOP-endorsed candidate after 10 rounds of voting at the party’s endorsing convention in May, according to CNN affiliate KARE. Running as a political outsider, he has painted himself as a challenge to “lifelong politicians” and emphasized business growth in the state.

• Lisa Demuth: The Minnesota House speaker is the top elected Republican in the state and was the first Black person and first female Republican to hold the role. She has touted her political experience on the campaign trail and is running in the primary despite previously pledging to drop out if she didn’t secure her party’s endorsement at the state convention.

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'We need someone who's going to be pragmatic': David Crowley on challenging a democratic socialist in the WI Gov. race

5:26 • Source: CNN

'We need someone who's going to be pragmatic': David Crowley on challenging a democratic socialist in the WI Gov. race

5:26

Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced last year that he wouldn’t run for a third term, setting off a heated race to succeed him in the battleground state.

While Republicans have coalesced around Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Democratic primary has seen intense divides along ideological lines, the implosion of two campaigns in the final stretch of the race, and one candidate’s last-minute reentry as the party establishment tries to stop the rise of democratic socialist Francesca Hong.

Here’s what to know:

Hong, a former chef and restaurant owner turned state assemblywoman, is the Democratic front-runner – but she’s faced scrutiny over past remarks repeatedly calling for abolishing police departments. While she hasn’t disavowed those remarks, she’s said she would not pursue “arbitrary cuts” to public safety budgets if elected.

The Democratic field against her further narrowed last month when the more moderate Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez exited the race amid a campaign finance scandal and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who could have split the progressive vote, ended his campaign.

Now, Evers and others concerned about Hong’s electability in November are rallying around Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who dropped out of the race in early July and then re-entered 10 days later.

Sen. Lindsey Graham looks on during a press conference at the US Capitol on April 27.

President Donald Trump’s quick endorsement of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, did not stop several established South Carolina politicians from jumping into the race to replace the longtime Republican lawmaker on November’s ballot.

With a crowded field of candidates, today’s special primary could go to a runoff on August 25 if no one receives a majority of the vote today. The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in the general election in the deep-red state.

Here’s what we know about the major candidates on the ballot today:

• Sen. Darline Graham: The sister of Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly in July from an aortic tear, was appointed to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term. She was cared for by her brother after their parents died when she was just a teenager. While she had not previously held elected office, leading up to the election Graham, who has been endorsed by the president, said she was “answering President Trump’s call to serve.”

• Rep. Russell Fry: Many people in Palmetto State politics view Fry, 41, as a rising star in the state’s Republican Party. The Myrtle Beach-area congressman is concluding his second term in the House and has touted himself as being part of a “new generation” of leadership with “fresh energy.”

• Rep. Ralph Norman: Lindsey’s Graham’s sudden death provided Norman a second crack at maintaining public office after an unsuccessful bid for governor earlier this year. The congressman has served in the House since 2017, is a fiscal hawk and has vowed to enact Trump’s agenda despite not receiving the president’s endorsement.

• Mark Sanford: South Carolina’s former governor has had stints in the House before and after his time in the state capital. He has spent more years in the halls of Congress than any other candidate in the race. Having been a thorn in Trump’s side while in the House, he sought to distance himself from the president on the campaign trail.

• Mark Lynch: Lynch has already run in one Senate primary this year, losing to Sen. Graham in June. The businessman and ordained deacon hails from South Carolina’s Upstate region and is running as a political outsider.