Election 2026: Sanford becomes 10th in Republican special primary

By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

Former presidential candidate Mark Sanford, a four-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, will try to win a South Carolina seat in the U.S. Senate.

Noon Tuesday is the filing deadline in the quest to be the Republican nomination on the ballot Nov. 3, taking the place of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. He died July 11, two days after his 71st birthday, and would have been seeking a fifth term.

Sanford filed with the South Carolina Elections Commission on Monday, becoming the 10th candidate in the field. His presidential bid in 2019 was short-lived, lasting from a Sept. 8 announcement to a Nov. 12 suspension of the campaign that never restarted.

He had started a campaign for the 1st Congressional District seat but unofficially withdrew, though he still appeared on the ballot and was fourth behind Jenny Honeycutt and Mark Smith. Honeycutt defeated Smith in a runoff, seeking to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Nancy Mace. She was unsuccessful in the gubernatorial primary.

Per state law, the filing period is one week, followed by the primary two weeks later on Aug. 11. If a runoff is needed, it happens Aug. 25.

The successful candidate in the primary will take Graham’s spot on the ballot on Nov. 3. Dr. Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician, is the Democratic opponent in November and is joined on the ballot by Libertarian Kasie Whitener.

Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nardone, to finish his term until the 120th Congress is seated in January. The 62-year-old Graham filed Friday and is backed for the six-year term by second-term Republican President Donald Trump.

Also filing Friday were U.S. Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, and Darius Mitchell. On Tuesday’s first day, Duke Buckner, Mark Lynch, Mark McBride, Clark Neilson and Samuel Shepherd all filed.

Fry is already ticketed for the Nov. 3 ballot in a reelection bid for the 7th Congressional District. Norman, finishing his fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, was unsuccessful running for governor in the June primary.

In the June primary, Lindsey Graham easily bested five challengers including second-place Lynch (56.8%-28.9%) and sixth-place Mitchell (56.8%-2.3%).