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2026 United States Senate election in South Carolina

The 2026 United States Senate election in South Carolina will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of South Carolina. Primary elections will be held on June 9, 2026, with a runoff election on June 23 if no candidate wins a majority in their respective primary. Incumbent four-term Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was re-elected in 2020, is running for a fifth term in office.

Background

South Carolina is generally considered to be a Republican stronghold, having not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1998. Republican nominee Donald Trump won South Carolina in 2020 by 12 percentage points, and in 2024 grew his margin to 18 percentage points. Republicans control every statewide office (except the state's comptroller office), supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, both U.S. Senate seats, and all but one seat in South Carolina's U.S. House congressional delegation.

Senator Lindsey Graham was first elected in 2002, defeating Democrat Alex Sanders by about 10 percentage points. He was re-elected in 2008, 2014, and most recently in 2020 defeating Jaime Harrison by 10 percentage points in what was expected to be a dead heat. In January 2025, he declared that he was running for reelection.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Did not file

  • Thomas Murphy, retired Navy hospital corpsman

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Fundraising

Polling

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

  • Annie Andrews, pediatrician and nominee for in 2022
  • Brandon Brown, former senior vice president of institutional advancement at Paine College and nominee for in 2004 and 2018
  • Kyle Freeman, logistics professional

Did not file

Withdrawn

  • Lee Johnson, engineer

Endorsements

Fundraising

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

Constitution primary

Candidates

Presumptive nominee

  • Mark Hackett, house painter

Independents

Candidates

Filed paperwork

  • Don Louis, retired CEO
  • Reece Wright-McDonald, perennial candidate

Withdrawn

General election

Predictions

Polling

Lindsey Graham vs. Annie Andrews

Lindsey Graham vs. generic Democrat

Notes

Partisan clients<br />

References

External links

Official campaign websites