Polls in South carolina closed at 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday as republican voters decided a special primary runoff to replace the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. The Associated Press will provide vote tallies and declare a winner only when it determines the trailing candidate cannot catch up.
- Polls in the South Carolina special GOP Senate runoff closed at 7 p.m. ET; the AP will declare a winner when the outcome is decisive.
- Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman advanced to the runoff after no candidate won a majority on Aug. 11; Darline Graham had been appointed to fill her late brother Lindsey Graham’s term.
- County vote patterns, early/mail ballots and Greenville County’s returns are central variables; an automatic recount is triggered by a margin of 1% or less.
Who was on the ballot and why this runoff
The runoff matched appointed Sen. Darline Graham against U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman. The special primary followed the unexpected death of Lindsey Graham on July 11, after he had already won the June 9 republican primary for renomination. Because no candidate reached a majority in the Aug. 11 special primary, state Republicans scheduled a runoff.
What to watch on election night
Election experts and news organizations monitoring the race highlighted several factors that typically shape how results emerge in South Carolina:
- Early and mail voting: About 19% of votes in the Aug. 11 special primary were cast early or by mail, and as of the day before the runoff roughly 45,000 ballots had already been cast for the runoff.
- County patterns: Darline Graham performed strongly across central and Lowcountry counties — including the Columbia area and Charleston — and did especially well in counties along the Georgia border. Ralph Norman’s strengths were concentrated in the Piedmont and Upstate, notably Greenville County, the state’s largest GOP-voting county.
- How counties release results: Nearly all of South Carolina’s 46 counties release early in-person and mail-vote totals in the first update of the night, often before in-person Election Day results are uploaded. That can produce sizable shifts as precinct returns arrive later.
- Automatic recount threshold: State rules trigger an automatic recount if the margin is 1% or less. The Associated Press said it may call a race subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Campaign backers and endorsements
Darline Graham — who was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster to finish her brother’s current term — received endorsements that became a central element of campaign coverage. Republican Sen. Tim Scott and former President Donald Trump publicly backed Graham; Trump held a campaign rally with her in Myrtle Beach and his affiliated PAC made six-figure expenditures in support of her campaign, according to reporting cited in coverage of the race.
Turnout and broader context
South Carolina does not register voters by party, and about 3.4 million residents were registered to vote as of the Friday before the runoff. Participation in recent related contests gives a sense of expected turnout: roughly 465,000 cast ballots in the June 9 Republican primary and about 336,000 participated in the Aug. 11 special primary. Those figures show lower turnout in the special primary and suggest turnout dynamics that could influence the runoff outcome.
What the winner will face in November
The GOP nominee will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician who is the party’s November nominee. Analysts pointed out that South Carolina has leaned Republican in recent federal elections: Lindsey Graham won reelection in 2020 with 54% of the vote, and Donald Trump carried the state in 2024 with 58% of the vote.
Timeline and next steps
- Polls closed: 7 p.m. ET Tuesday.
- Initial results: Counties typically report early/mail returns first; the AP and news outlets will update throughout the evening.
- AP decision: The Associated Press will declare a winner only when it judges a trailing candidate cannot overcome the deficit; if the margin is within 1% an automatic recount may be triggered under state rules.
Unresolved points and what to expect in coverage
At the time polls closed, news organizations were aggregating county reports and early ballots. Coverage noted that late-reporting in-person precincts — and the county-by-county ordering of releases — can produce shifts in the margin as the night progresses. Where outlets differed was primarily in emphasis: some coverage foregrounded the significance of national endorsements and outside spending, while other reports highlighted local county patterns and the large role of early voting totals.
Why this matters to U.S. politics
The special runoff carries national attention because it determines who will occupy a high-profile U.S. Senate seat in a reliably Republican state for the fall general election. Beyond the immediate contest, it is being watched as a test of endorsements and outside spending late in the primary calendar and for what it may signal about voter preferences in similar GOP nomination fights ahead of November.
Reporting in this article is based on Associated Press decision notes and regional news coverage of the South Carolina special Republican primary runoff on Aug. 25, 2026.
