What to know about South Carolina’s election to replace Lindsey Graham

Republicans in South Carolina will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide who will replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham in the race to represent the state in the United States Senate.

The vote comes less than five weeks after Graham’s unexpected death on July 11 from cardiovascular disease.

During his 23 years in the Senate, Graham developed a reputation as one of the most hawkish voices in Congress, advocating for military intervention in Iran, Iraq and elsewhere. A longtime ally of President Donald Trump, he had sailed to victory in South Carolina’s Republican primary race on June 9.

A crowded field, which includes his sister, Darline Graham, is now running to succeed Graham. The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in the November midterms.

They include Darline Graham , who has been appointed to finish her brother’s current term in the Senate, which runs through January.

Businessman Mark Lynch, who finished second to Graham in the June primary, is also in the race.

Two current members of Congress, Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, are also competing, as is the former governor of the state, Mark Sanford.

Rounding out the field are lawyer Duke Buckner, biomedical engineer Samuel Shepherd, former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, retired Air Force officer Glenda Gail Parker and farmer Danny Lee Ford II.