Darline Graham’s eligibility to run for a full term in South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat faces scrutiny from GOP leaders over her voting history, just days after she announced her candidacy following her brother’s death last month.
Graham announced Monday that she would seek a full six-year term to replace Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11. She had been appointed to fill the remainder of his term by Governor Henry McMaster on July 13 and received President Trump’s endorsement the previous week.
The challenge stems from a voting requirement the South Carolina Republican Party adopted at its June 27 convention. The rule requires GOP candidates for any state or local office to have voted in at least two of the past three statewide Republican primary elections, or to seek a waiver from party leaders.
Dorchester County Republican Party chairman CJ Westfall formally requested the state party’s rules committee review Graham’s eligibility less than two hours after her campaign announcement. According to Election Commission records obtained by The State newspaper, Graham voted in the 2026 primary and the 2024 Republican runoff, but did not vote in the 2022 primary or the initial 2024 primary.
The dispute hinges on whether the 2024 runoff counts as a primary vote under the new rule. Westfall characterized counting the runoff as “bending the rule” in Graham’s favor, noting that neither the initial 2024 primary nor the runoff had any statewide candidates on the ballot. “It’s pretty clear” that the runoff should not count, he said, according to The State.
Graham’s campaign rejected the challenge. “Darline Graham meets the Republican two-out-of-three statewide primary rule,” her spokesperson Abby Zilch posted on social media Tuesday morning, with a screenshot of the elections Graham voted in since the 2024 primary runoff. The campaign said Graham is “qualified to run because she has real experience leading.”
State Republican Party chairman Drew McKissick said the party will review all candidates’ voting records after they officially file with the state Election Commission. McKissick explained that voting in a runoff counts as participation in the primary process. “Runoffs are just an extension of the regular primary process,” he said in an interview with The State. “You got round one. You got round two.”
The voting requirement was adopted by the state party as part of a broader rules change intended to support a legal challenge against South Carolina over its open primary system. The party has long sought to require voters to register with a specific party before participating in primaries. The new candidate qualification rule was designed to demonstrate that the party was serious about “bona fide Republicans electing bona fide Republicans,” according to McKissick.
However, the voting requirement has drawn criticism from some Republicans who worry it could consolidate power among party officials to determine ballot access. CJ Westfall, despite supporting closed primaries, opposed the candidate qualification provision, saying it “allows the SCGOP to pick winners or losers and deny ballot access to candidates they don’t like.”
Other Republican candidates in the special primary, scheduled for August 11, appear to have clearer compliance with the voting requirement. Representatives Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, along with businessman Mark Lynch, all voted in the initial Republican primaries in 2022, 2024, and 2026, according to Election Commission records.
The filing deadline for the special primary is July 28, giving candidates just one week to submit their candidacy paperwork. The breakneck timeline means the actual campaign period will be compressed further by Lindsey Graham’s memorial services, scheduled for July 28 in Washington and July 29 in South Carolina.
Sources
- The State — Graham’s voting record, the GOP voting requirement rule, and quotes from CJ Westfall and Drew McKissick regarding the eligibility challenge
- Politico — Graham’s announcement to run for a full term, her appointment and Trump endorsement, details about other candidates, and context on the voting requirement rule
- Post and Courier — Details on the June 27 GOP convention rule change, its purpose, and criticism of the candidate qualification provision
