U.S. Senate Special Election Tuesday

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

On Tuesday, the special election is set to decide who will replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on the ballot for the United States Senate seat in South Carolina.

Early voting in this race brought 2,681 to the polls in Anderson County last week. Polls (see list at end of story) will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Duke Buckner, 39, a Walterboro attorney and former public-school English teacher, is a frequent candidate for office and has previously run against U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Russell Fry, 41, is the U.S. representative for South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District, which includes the Myrtle Beach area. Fry entered Congress in 2023 and has built his campaign around his support for President Trump’s policies. Fry is also running for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives in South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District, the seat he currently holds.

Danny Ford II, 40, is a farmer from Anderson County is a political newcomer who recently ran for the S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture seat.

Darline Graham, 62, is the newly appointed incumbent in the seat, appointed recently after the death of her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. She is seeking to retain the seat through the November election.

Mark Lynch, 67, a Spartanburg businessman and appliance-repair executive, competed in the original Republican Senate primary earlier this year.

Mark McBride, the former mayor of Myrtle Beach, has made previous runs for federal office, including a 2004 U.S. Senate primary bid and a 2022 congressional campaign in the 7th District.

Ralph Norman, 73. the U.S. representative for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, first elected in 2017, recently made an unsuccessful bid for governor and has received endorsements from some Republican elected officials in this Senate contest.

Glenda Gail Parker, 79, is a retired Air Force officer, former Pentagon civil servant, and contractor. She is one of the political newcomers in the field.

Mark Sanford, 66, former governor of South Carolina, serving from 2003-2011, and a former U.S. representative for the 1st Congressional District, with congressional service from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 to 2019. His long-running signature issue has been reducing the federal debt.

Samuel “Sam” Shepherd, a Lexington County biomedical engineer, scientist, and entrepreneur, has centered his campaign on cutting taxes and federal spending.