# 2026 United States Senate election in South Carolina

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vte :
The 2026 United States Senate election in South Carolina will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of South Carolina. Incumbent four-term Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was re-elected in 2020, is running for a fifth term in office.

## Background

South Carolina is generally considered to be a Republican stronghold, having not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1998. Republican nominee Donald Trump won South Carolina in 2020 by 12 percentage points, and in 2024 grew his margin to 18 percentage points. Republicans control every statewide office (except the state's comptroller office), supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, both U.S. Senate seats, and all but one seat in South Carolina's U.S. House congressional delegation.
Senator Lindsey Graham was first elected in 2002, defeating Democrat Alex Sanders by about 10 percentage points. He was re-elected in 2008, 2014, and most recently in 2020 defeating Jamie Harrison by 10 percentage points in what was expected to be a dead heat. In January 2025, he declared that he was running for reelection.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Lindsey Graham, incumbent U.S. Senator (2003–present)
* Mark Lynch, appliance store owner
* Thomas Murphy, retired Navy hospital corpsman

#### Publicly expressed interest

* Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 5th congressional district (2017–present)

#### Potential

* Adam Morgan, former state representative from the 20th district (2018–2024) and candidate for South Carolina's 4th congressional district in 2024
* Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district (2021–present) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014

### Endorsements

U.S. senators
* Tim Scott, South Carolina (2013–present)
Statewide officials
* Henry McMaster, governor of South Carolina (2017–present)

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Filed paperwork

* Catherine Fleming Bruce, author and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Inside Elections | Solid R | January 17, 2025 |
| The Cook Political Report | Solid R | February 11, 2025 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | February 13, 2025 |