Polling stations have closed in South Carolina and Vermont, ending in-person voting on a night that will determine who advances toward filling one of the Senate’s most closely watched vacancies and who will challenge one of the country’s most popular sitting governors.
In South Carolina’s special Republican primary, ten candidates competed for the chance to appear on November’s ballot for the seat long held by Senator Lindsey Graham, who died of an aortic dissection weeks ago. His sister, Darline Graham Nordone, was sworn in to complete his term and quickly declared her own bid for a full six-year term with US President Donald Trump’s encouragement.
South Carolina and Vermont Primary Election Results 2026 LIVE: How Fast Did Results Come In During Comparable Past Elections?
Historical patterns from each state offer a guide to what voters can expect overnight. In South Carolina’s 9 June primary election, the Associated Press first reported results at 7:22 pm ET, or 22 minutes after polls closed, with the last vote update of the night arriving at 12:19 am ET, by which point more than 99 per cent of total votes had been counted.
In Vermont’s 2024 state primary, the Associated Press first reported results at 7:18 pm ET, or 18 minutes after polls closed, with the final update of that night coming at 11:45 pm ET, when about 87 per cent of total votes had been counted.
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The scale of the South Carolina field reflects the unusual circumstances surrounding the seat. The ten-candidate field includes Representatives Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, former Governor Mark Sanford, and businessman Mark Lynch, an “America First” insurgent who had finished second to Graham himself in the regular June primary before his death.
One Republican strategist noted that Graham Nordone, Norman and Fry each carry a built-in political advantage, since they have existing political infrastructure to draw on, with Graham Nordone inheriting her brother’s leadership PAC, Senate committee assignments and much of his staff, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee has been running advertisements on her behalf.
Given the size of the field, officials consider it more likely than not that no single candidate will clear the 50 per cent threshold needed to win outright, a scenario that would trigger a runoff already scheduled for 25 August.
South Carolina and Vermont Primary Election Results 2026 LIVE: What Is At Stake In Vermont’s Democratic Primary For Governor?
In Vermont, the contest carries a different dynamic, since Governor Phil Scott, seeking a sixth two-year term, faces no opposition within his own Republican primary. Instead, attention has centred on the Democratic primary, where Amanda Janoo and Aly Richards are competing for the chance to challenge Scott, long regarded as one of the country’s most popular governors, in November.
Richards, seeking to explain the traditionally low profile of the race, said, “Nobody’s been paying attention to this primary. Either there’s this idea that people don’t know that it’s happening, or people don’t think you can beat Phil. But I think that is changing now.”
With polls now closed in both states, election officials in South Carolina and Vermont are expected to begin releasing early results within the half hour, following the pattern established in each state’s most recent comparable elections, even as full and certified counts are likely to continue late into the night.
South Carolina and Vermont Primary Election Results 2026 LIVE: Who Is Favoured To Win In Vermont And South Carolina?
Vermont’s Republican primary carries little suspense on its own, since Governor Phil Scott is running unopposed for renomination and remains, by wide consensus among political analysts, the favourite to win a sixth term in November despite recent signs his popularity has softened amid rising housing and healthcare costs.
The more competitive contest lies within the Democratic primary, where Aly Richards and Amanda Janoo are vying for the right to challenge him, though neither has built the kind of statewide name recognition that would make the eventual Democratic nominee a clear frontrunner against an incumbent who has historically drawn support from voters across party lines.
In South Carolina, the outcome is considerably harder to call given the size and competitiveness of the ten-candidate Republican field. Darline Graham Nordone enters with structural advantages, including her late brother’s fundraising network, Senate staff and committee assignments, along with backing from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, while Representatives Ralph Norman and Russell Fry each bring existing statewide political operations of their own, Norman from a recent competitive run for governor and Fry from his sitting seat in the House.
Former Governor Mark Sanford adds a further wildcard given his own history of statewide name recognition, though his path back into elected office after past controversies remains untested with today’s electorate.
Given the crowded field, most South Carolina political observers consider a runoff more likely than an outright win on primary night, since no single candidate appears positioned to clear the 50 per cent threshold required to avoid a second round of voting on 25 August.
That scenario would likely narrow the race to two of the better-funded, better-known contenders, with Graham Nordone, Norman and Fry widely seen as the candidates best placed to advance, though final results from Tuesday’s vote will offer the first concrete evidence of how the fractured field is actually breaking among South Carolina’s Republican primary electorate.
