Lindsey Graham Wins South Carolina Republican Senate Primary
Lindsey Graham wins South Carolina GOP Senate primary with 59% of the vote, beating self-funder Mark Lynch to advance to the November general election.
Sen. Lindsey Graham secured his Republican Senate primary in South Carolina on Tuesday night, fending off five challengers and setting up a November general election matchup that will determine whether the veteran lawmaker wins a fifth term in Washington.
Decision Desk HQ projected Graham the winner just before 8:30 p.m. ET, with Graham capturing 59.1% of the vote.
The biggest threat came from self-funding businessman Mark Lynch, who lent his campaign $5 million. Graham's campaign spent more than $13 million on ads, according to AdImpact, as he battled Lynch for the GOP nod. With 35% of the vote in, Graham had received 106,164 votes to Lynch's 48,171, good for 59.3% versus Lynch's 26.9%.
Graham's win came after President Donald Trump gave Graham his "COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT" on Truth Social, writing: "This Tuesday, June 9th, all Republicans in South Carolina should vote for Lindsey Graham — HE HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT, AND WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN."
Trump had also praised Graham as someone who "has always been there when I needed him," and Graham leaned heavily into his close working relationship with the president throughout the primary.
Graham had launched his fifth-term bid with notable institutional backing, with Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster chairing his 2026 campaign, an early show of strength heading into a competitive primary field.
On the Democratic side, Annie Andrews claimed victory with 61.1% of the vote, defeating Brandon Brown and Kyle Freeman, and will face Graham in November.
South Carolina Republicans currently control every statewide office, supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, both U.S. Senate seats, and all but one congressional seat, making Graham a heavy favorite in the general election.
Graham, first elected in 2002, is one of the Senate's most prominent voices on foreign policy and national security, and has been among President Trump's most reliable congressional allies during the ongoing conflict with Iran.