Senator Lindsey Graham, has advanced to a Republican runoff for South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat, setting up an August 25 contest against U.S. Representative Ralph Norman. Graham, who has never held elected office, was appointed by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster to complete her brother’s Senate term through early January following his unexpected death from a heart ailment. The South Carolina Senate race is also being closely watched because Republicans are seeking to maintain their control of Congress. Trump won South Carolina by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024, but questions remain about how influential his endorsement will be in the Senate contest. Lynch, who received more than 130,000 votes in the June primary, argued that some Republican voters were seeking a change rather than another Graham term.