Voters in three US states – South Carolina, Georgia and Oklahoma – are headed back to the polls for elections, including run-offs in South Carolina and Oklahoma after a host of candidates didn’t meet the threshold to win their primaries outright. A special election will also be held in Georgia to fill a United States congressional seat that is empty after the death of a lawmaker. With the Republican Party’s slim majorities in both the US Senate and House of Representatives, each of these elections on Tuesday will be closely watched to see who will be on the ballot in the November midterm elections.
South Carolina Republicans will return to the polls for the second time since June to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham on November’s ballot. During his 23 years in the US Senate, Graham developed a reputation as one of the most hawkish voices in Congress, advocating for military intervention in Iran, Iraq and elsewhere. An ally of President Donald Trump, he had sailed to victory in South Carolina’s Republican primary race on June 9.
His unexpected death two days later created a vacancy not only for his current US Senate seat but also as the party’s pick to compete for another six-year term. The finalists for the Republican nomination are Graham’s sister, Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to serve out the remainder of her brother’s current term, and Representative Ralph Norman, a five-term congressman who ran for governor this year and placed third in the primary. Darline Graham placed first in the August 11 special primary but fell shy of the majority of votes needed to avoid Tuesday’s run-off.
She received about 33 percent of the vote, compared with about 25 percent for Norman. Darline Graham swept the counties across central South Carolina, including the Columbia area, as well as the state’s Lowcountry region, which includes Charleston. She scored her highest percentages in counties along the Georgia border.
Norman performed best in the state’s Piedmont and Upstate regions, including the Greenville area. Darline Graham has key backing from Republican Senator Tim Scott and Trump, who was an early proponent of Darline Graham and held a campaign rally with her on Friday in Myrtle Beach. The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in November.
Oklahoma Republicans will settle an expensive nomination fight for governor while Democrats will pick a nominee for a US Senate seat. Voters will also decide two statewide ballot measures, including one that would add a voter identification requirement to the state constitution. The outcome of the gubernatorial primary to replace term-limited Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has major implications for November’s election as Democrats haven’t won the Oklahoma governorship in 20 years.
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