President Donald Trump will virtually campaign on Monday night for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as the four-term senator looks to avoid a primary runoff in a crowded GOP field.
South Carolina voters will take to the polls on Tuesday to cast their primary ballots in the state’s local, House, Senate, and gubernatorial races. Graham, who has faced primary challenges in nearly every Senate election, has never been forced into a runoff, a trend he hopes to keep alive come Tuesday evening.
Trump-endorsed Graham is facing businessman Mark Lynch as his main opponent, while the primary field also includes four other candidates polling at lower levels. Lynch is backed largely by the Trump opposition wing of the GOP, boasting endorsements from several ex-administration officials such as former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent and former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.
As Graham seeks to secure over 50% of the vote on primary day to avoid a runoff, Trump is stumping for him during a 5:30 p.m. tele-rally Monday to stir up support. Trump’s support goes far in the Palmetto State, which he won by nearly 18 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
“Senator Lindsey Graham is doing a fantastic job. He is running against a LUNATIC named Mark Lynch, who supports perhaps the Worst Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie, of the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky. I don’t have to go into great detail, but needless to say, Mark Lynch would be a DISASTER for the Republican Party, and Lindsey Graham just, GETS THE JOB DONE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in April.
Graham has been polling at over 50% in recent surveys taken on the primary, besides one poll from The Citadel that had Graham at 46%. If Graham dips under 50%, he would be forced into a June 23 runoff.
The sitting senator won his last primary in 2020 with over 67% of the vote as he faced three GOP challengers. Despite his previous large margins, some critics and pundits have questioned whether the senator’s fierce advocacy of going to war with Iran will be a negative for him because of the recent spike in gas and fertilizer prices.
South Carolina set a record for early voting in this midterm, according to the state’s election commission. Polls in the general primary election will open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and close at 7 p.m.