Lindsey Graham's $18M Pays Off

US Sen. Lindsey Graham has won the South Carolina Republican primary as he seeks a fifth term, the AP reports. Trump early on gave his endorsement of Graham, a political confidant and regular golfing partner of the president, despite their on-again, off-again relationship. In announcing he would seek a fifth Senate term, Graham also secured the state's leading Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster, to chair his 2026 run.

No Democrat has won a US Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically have taken statewide seats by double-digit margins. When he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin. Among Graham's primary foes was Greenville businessman Mark Lynch, who claims Graham isn't conservative enough to represent the state. (Graham and his allies poured $18 million into the race.)