South Carolina voters will participate in a special primary election in August to name a GOP nominee to fill the seat formerly held by Sen. Lindsey Graham in the upper chamber.Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) was sworn in to fill the remainder of her late brother’s unexpired term last week after Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) appointed her to the seat. Initially expected to serve in a temporary, caretaker capacity until Graham’s elected permanent replacement filled the seat in January, Nordone’s prospects shifted when President Donald Trump endorsed and publicly encouraged her to run for the full term.Graham was up for reelection in 2026, and he had won the primary in June, defeating the next-closest candidate, businessman Mark Lynch, by a 27.9-point margin.

The special Republican primary will take place on Aug. 11 to see which candidate will take on Democrat Annie Andrews in the November general election. Here’s a list of the candidates who have declared their candidacies in the special GOP primary election.Darline Graham Nordone

Nordone announced on Monday that she would seek a full term to replace her brother in the Senate permanently.“I have been praying a lot, talking to my family. But with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey. He cared about the people of this state. I have worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state,” Nordone told Fox News’s Sean Hannity.Nordone, 62, has never held elected office and has only been in the political spotlight when she was campaigning with or appearing at events alongside her brother. She has built her career around disability advocacy, serving as commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and president of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind. As she completes Graham’s term, Nordone sits as South Carolina’s first female senator.Nordone told the outlet on Monday evening that she would be focused on “what matters to the average person,” listing affordability concerns such as lowering the price of groceries, gas, healthcare, and insurance. In doing so, she also hinted that she may take less of a national security-focused approach than her late brother did in the upper chamber.DARLINE GRAHAM NORDONE SIGNALS BREAK WITH LATE BROTHER’S DEFENSE-FOCUSED SENATE LEGACYRussell Fry