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Snapshot 5:Wed, Aug 26, 2026 7:32:18 PM GMT last edited by Brian

Graham Wins SC GOP Runoff, Faces Dem in November

Graham Wins SC GOP Runoff, Faces Dem in November

Graham Wins SC GOP Runoff, Faces Dem in November
Above: Darlene Graham at a Republican runoff watch party in Columbia, SC, on Aug. 25. Image credit: Brogan Jackson/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Spin


Darline Graham's primary win proves voters can sometimes choose heart over resume, and there's nothing wrong with that. South Carolina Republicans picked someone with genuine human qualities over a polished insider, and that instinct is exactly what democracy is supposed to look like. Graham'sAs gaffe-pronefor authenticityher istendency afor featuremaking gaffes, notit shows she's bring a bug,refreshing inauthenticity to a Senate full of scripted ghosts.

Graham's win is aonly betrayalpossible ofthanks everythingto MAGAoutside promiseddonor funds outsideand PACs, inherited political machinery and establishmentis cash steamrolled a principledbetrayal conservativeof toeverything installMAGA a political blank slatepromised. Eight$8 million dollars flooded in from clean energy interests and Lindsey Graham's old network, buying continuity with the same interventionistpro-war, deal-cutting swamp politics Trump once declared war on. This isn'tis draining the swampexact opposite it'sof restockingdraining itthe swamp.

Darlene Graham is unfit for more reasons than Republicans are willing to admit. Not only is she going to blindly — and admittedly so — support the unpopular foreign policy agenda of her brother, but she's openly disregarded her constituents' needs at the domestic level. A woman who shrugs off parents not being able to afford healthcare should not be a U.S. senator, and Andrews will highlight that come November.


Metaculus Prediction

There's a 7% chance that the Democratic candidate will win the 2026 U.S. Senate election in South Carolina, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


Go Deeper

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.4.1

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.4.1