Republican Senator Lindsey Graham faces a tough South Carolina GOP primary as polls close today, June 9, with the four-term incumbent potentially needing a runoff to secure his party’s nomination for a fifth term.
Businessman Mark Lynch, an appliance repair executive, has emerged as Graham’s most serious challenger, running hard to the senator’s right on an “America First” platform that attacks Graham’s long record in Washington, including his vocal support for President Trump’s war in Iran. An InsiderAdvantage poll released Monday showed Graham getting 51.2 percent of the vote and Lynch getting 20.9 percent, with 18.4 percent still undecided. Another poll conducted by the Citadel School of Humanities and Social Sciences showed a tighter race, with Graham at 46 percent and Lynch at 36 percent, according to The Hill.
Graham needs to meet a 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff election scheduled for June 23. In his last primary race in 2020, Graham won with almost 68 percent of the vote, signaling a significant decline in his primary support.
The Iran war has become central to the primary battle. Lynch accuses Graham of being insufficiently “America First” by supporting “foreign aid packages, interventionist policies, and visa programs that prioritize global interests over American workers and taxpayers,” according to his campaign platform. Graham’s hawkish stance on Iran has drawn criticism from anti-interventionist Republicans who once formed the core of Trump’s base. The Hill reported that Graham has even told South Carolinians to prepare to send their sons and daughters to the Middle East, while defending the war’s necessity despite inflation and fuel price concerns.
Trump held a tele-rally for Graham on Monday evening, saying the U.S. would win “over the next two weeks, when we declare total victory.” Trump told supporters, “Lindsey has been fighting with me all the way,” backing the incumbent despite the primary challenge. However, several prominent Trump allies have broken with the president to support Lynch. Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has clashed with Trump over voting to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and the Iran war, posted a message supporting Lynch and calling Graham an “America Last warmonger.” Joe Kent, who left his Trump administration post in March over the Iran war, posted a similar endorsement, according to Politico.
Spending in the race has been extraordinary for South Carolina. Graham’s campaign and allied outside groups have spent more than $18 million ahead of Tuesday’s primary, according to an AdImpact analysis cited by Politico. Graham’s campaign alone has spent $13 million on advertising, much of it in negative ads attacking Lynch over a 1984 cocaine trafficking arrest. Lynch has mostly self-funded his campaign with $5 million of his retirement savings. Pro-cryptocurrency organizations, groups aligned with GOP Senate leadership, and other super PACs have poured money into the race on Graham’s behalf.
Graham is still heavily favored to hold the seat. He has successfully repelled primary challenges from the right three times since first winning in 2002. Richland County GOP Chair Tyson Grinstead told Politico that Graham “has only lost one county in any primary race in his career for the Senate.” Even if forced into a runoff, Graham is expected to prevail against Lynch in the deep-red state. Trump’s backing and his establishment ties in both Columbia and Washington provide significant advantages. However, the viability of Lynch’s challenge reveals a fissure within the MAGA movement over foreign policy and what “America First” truly means, according to Politico.
Sources
- The Hill — Graham’s Iran war stance, polling data (InsiderAdvantage and Citadel polls), 2020 primary results, Graham’s remarks on sending troops to Middle East
- Politico — Spending totals ($18 million), Lynch’s self-funding ($5 million), endorsements from Greene and Kent, Graham’s 2014 spending, Grinstead’s analysis
- NBC News — Live primary results and confirmation of June 9 primary date
- PBS — Confirmation of South Carolina primary on June 9, 2026
- Christian Science Monitor — Graham’s Iran war support as vulnerability
