Lindsey Graham Replacement Poll Numbers Are In

Former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy has been out of elected office for years, but South Carolina voters apparently have not forgotten him.

A new poll of likely Republican primary voters found Gowdy holding a wide lead in the race for the Senate seat left open by the recent death of Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Gowdy represented South Carolina in the House from 2011 until 2019. Since leaving Congress, he has worked as a Fox News host and has shown little interest in returning to Washington. That has not stopped fellow Republicans from publicly praising him as a possible candidate.

“Trey would be an amazing senator for South Carolina,” Republican Sen. Tim Scott recently said.

Voters surveyed by Peak Insights appeared to agree. The poll found Gowdy receiving 38 percent support in a hypothetical Republican primary, putting him well ahead of every other name included in the survey.

Rep. Ralph Norman finished a distant second with 13 percent. Rep. Russell Fry and newly appointed Sen. Darline Graham Nordone each received 9 percent.

Businessman Mark Lynch drew 7 percent, while Rep. Nancy Mace received 6 percent.

The poll surveyed 900 likely Republican primary voters between July 18 and July 20. It had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. South Carolina’s special Republican primary is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Nordone, Graham’s younger sister, was appointed to temporarily fill the seat after her brother died July 11 following a sudden illness. She has since announced that she will run for a full six-year term.

President Donald Trump encouraged South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to appoint Nordone and has backed her campaign. Trump described the appointment as a fitting tribute to Graham, who served in Congress for more than three decades.

Peak Insights also asked voters how Trump’s endorsement would affect their choice.