GOP field, changes shaping up for special primary election
A special Republican Primary Election to replace the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on the November ballot has been set as the field has been set.
Four Republicans have filed to run in the primary, including Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham, who was selected by Gov. Henry McMaster to fill the rest of her brother’s term and was sworn in to office on July 14.
Sen. Darline Graham has decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by her brother, Lindsey Graham. (SC Daily Gazette photo)
Greenville businessman Mark Lynch, who Lindsey Graham defeated in the recent primary, U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry and Walterboro’s Duke Buckner, have announced that they intend to run in the primary. Candidates can file for the election through July 28.
The winner of the Aug. 11 U.S. Senate Republican Primary will face Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews in the Nov. 3 General Election. If necessary, a run-off will be held on Aug. 25.
Anyone who voted in the June Democratic primary is ineligible to vote in the upcoming GOP primary, but all other registered voters are eligible.
The special primary election and the potential runoff also means changes to two polling places in Laurens County due to scheduling conflicts with Ford Elementary School (Wattsville Precinct) and Hickory Tavern School (Hickory Tavern Precinct).
The Laurens County Board of Voter Registration and Elections is moving the Hickory Tavern Precinct to Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church, and the Wattsville Precinct to The Ridge at Laurens.
“These changes will apply only to the U.S. Senate Republican Special Primary and, if required, the Republican Primary Runoff,” said Lynne West, director of the county’s board of voter registration and elections. “We anticipate returning to the regular polling locations for future elections.”
Early voting is set for Aug. 5-7 at the Laurens County Voter Registration and Election offices on Bolt Drive in Laurens.
Rep. Nancy Mace said she will not enter the race for the Senate, and Lt. Gov. Pam Evette had not made an announcement concerning the primary as of Tuesday.
Darline Graham, who has early support from President Donald Trump, considered whether or not to join an already crowded GOP primary field for about a week before entering the race.
“I’ve been praying a lot, talking to my family,” she said in a television interview. “I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey. He cared about the people of this state. I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state.
“I feel like I can do it. I feel an inner peace about it.”
South Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews.
Andrews will be forced to wait as long as a month to find out who her opponent will be on Nov. 3, but said that has not changed her mindset.
“Over the next three weeks, South Carolinians will hear a great deal from the candidates competing in the Republican primary,” Andrews said in a statement. “These candidates have no vision for the future of South Carolina. They have no plan to lower costs or fix our broken healthcare system.
They have no plan to get us out of this deeply unpopular war with Iran. So while who I am running against has changed, who I am running for has not.”
Private funeral services for the long-time U.S. senator and Seneca native is to be held July 28 at the Washington National Cathedral following a short ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
Services in Columbia are scheduled to start at approximately 10:45 a.m. on July 29. The State Guard caisson team will carry Graham’s casket to the front of the Statehouse grounds for an F-16 flyover. The caisson team will then proceed to First Baptist Church for a funeral service. He is to be laid to rest later that day in Seneca.
