Republican candidates who would like to run for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late Lindsey Graham began to file for the race Tuesday, July. Any potential candidates had until July 28 to determine if they would like to officially join the contest.
State law gives candidates a one-week period to file for a special election starting on the first Tuesday after the death of a nominee who had won their primary election. Graham had prevailed in the June 9 GOP primary race for the Senate seat with about 57% of the vote.
Candidates were officially able join the race and can now make their case to voters. The special election to find the GOP's Senate nominee is Aug. 11.
Who will be on the ballot
Five candidates filed to run for the Republican nomination Tuesday, July 21.
Greenville businessman Mark Lynch received the second highest share of votes in the June 9 primary. Lynch is now again running for the seat.
Attorney Duke Buckner, who had previously run against U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn in the race for South Carolina's 6th Congressional District, too, joined the race. Buckner is a Walterboro native.
The pair are joined in the race by former Myrtle Beach mayor Mark McBride. McBride unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. House in 2022.
Lexington resident Samuel Shepherd, a bio-chemical and medical engineer, entered the race Tuesday
The last candidate who filed Tuesday was Charlotte-based land surveyor Clark Neilson. Neilson filed as a candidate 3 p.m. Tuesday. He has not run for office before, but he said in a phone call with South Carolina Public Radio that it had long-been something he had thought about.
Four candidates filed for the race Friday, July 24.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman entered the race after announcing his intent to run the week prior. Norman represents South Carolina's 5th Congressional District and came in third in the June 9 GOP gubernatorial primary.
U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, too, will appear on the Aug. 11 ballot. Fry represents the state's 7th Congressional District.
Fry is also running for reelection to his current seat. He is allowed to run for both under state law, but he can only accept one position if he were to win both. Another wave of special elections could be triggered depending on Fry's outcome in the races.
U.S. Senator Darline Graham filed to be on ballot Friday at 4:27 p.m.
Gov. Henry McMaster appointed U.S. Sen. Darline Graham July 13 to finish out her brother's term in the Senate. That term ends Jan. 3, 2027. President Donald Trump said on social media last week that Graham has his "Complete and Total Endorsement in the Special Election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina."
The final candidate to file Friday was Columbia resident Darius Mitchell. Mitchell was on the ballot for the GOP nomination to the seat in the June 9 primary. He garnered about 2% of the vote.
Monday, July, saw just one candidate file — former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. He announced the bid for the seat Thursday, July 23, in a social media video. Sanford is also a former congressman
Sanford took a shot at the 1st Congressional District's Republican nomination earlier in the year, but he dropped out of that race about a month after his announcement. Charleston County Councilmember Jenney Costa Honeycutt eventually earned the Republican nomination in that contest.
Potential candidates who wish to join the race have until July 28 to file. The GOP nominee for the Senate seat would face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in November's General Election.
July 28 — the last day that candidates could file — two candidates joined the race: Danny Ford II, who ran for the GOP commissioner of agriculture nomination, and Glenda Gail Parker
Who filed but was not certified
Candidates Danny Ford II, Darius Mitchell and Clark Neilson were not certified for the race by the state GOP.
