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2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina
	County results Graham: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Sanders: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
U.S. senator before election; Strom Thurmond; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Lindsey Graham; Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 5, 2002. Longtime Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond decided to retire at the age of 100, becoming the first centenarian to ever serve in Congress; he later died in June 2003. Thurmond's record as the longest-serving Senator in U.S. history was later surpassed by West Virginia's Robert Byrd.

Representative Lindsey Graham won the open seat, becoming the first non-incumbent Republican Senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction in 1872. This was the first open Senate election in South Carolina since 1956.

Democratic primary

Alex Sanders, the former president of the College of Charleston, faced no opposition in the Democratic primary and thereby avoided a primary election.

Republican primary

Representative Lindsey Graham had no challenge for the Republican nomination and thus avoided a primary election.^[1] This was due in large part because the South Carolina Republicans were preoccupied with the gubernatorial race,^[2] and also because potential rivals were deterred by the huge financial war chest Graham had amassed early in the campaign.^[3]

General election

Candidates

Ted Adams (C)
Lindsey Graham (R), U.S. Representative
Victor Kocher (L)
Alex Sanders (D), former President of the College of Charleston

Campaign

The election campaign between Graham and Sanders pitted ideology against personality. Graham spread his message to the voters that he had a consistent conservative voting record and that his votes in Congress closely matched that of outgoing Senator Strom Thurmond. Sanders claimed that he was best to represent South Carolina in the Senate because he held membership in both the NAACP, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the NRA, and because he said that his positions more closely matched the citizens of the state. He said that he was against the death penalty for religious reasons, supported abortion rights, and was for greater government involvement in education. Graham attacked Sanders for these positions consistently throughout the campaign, but Sanders hit back at Graham for wanting to privatize social security.

Graham scored an impressive victory in the general election and the margin of victory proved that Democrats had little chance of winning an election in the state for a federal position. He achieved his victory because he rolled up strong margins the Upstate and was able to also achieve a majority in the Lowcountry, an area which Sanders had been expected to do well since he hailed from Charleston. However, strong support in the Lowcountry for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Sanford doomed Sanders chances of running up a margin in the coastal counties.

Debates

Complete video of debate, October 6, 2002
Complete video of debate, October 13, 2002
Complete video of debate, October 18, 2002
Complete video of debate, October 20, 2002
Complete video of debate, October 25, 2002

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[4]	Lean R	November 4, 2002

Polling

Source	Date	Graham (R)	Sanders (D)
Zogby International	October 11, 2002 [1]	47%	35%
Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research	October 13, 2002 [2]	51%	34%
SurveyUSA	October 20, 2002 [3]	53%	44%
SurveyUSA	October 27, 2002 [4]	49%	48%
Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research	October 29, 2002 [5]	53%	36%
SurveyUSA	November 4, 2002 [6]	49%	48%

Results

South Carolina U.S. Senate election, 2002^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lindsey Graham	600,010	54.40%	+1.02%
	Democratic	Alex Sanders	487,359	44.19%	+0.20%
	Constitution	Ted Adams	8,228	0.75%	N/A
	Libertarian	Victor Kocher	6,684	0.61%	−0.51%
	No party	Write-Ins	667	0.06%	N/A
Majority			112,651	10.21%	+0.82%
Turnout			1,102,948	53.9%	−10.1%
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Calhoun (largest town: St. Matthews)
Darlington (largest city: Hartsville)
Abbeville (Largest city: Abbeville)
Chesterfield (Largest city: Cheraw)
Sumter (Largest city: Sumter)
McCormick (largest town: McCormick)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Horry (largest town: Myrtle Beach)

Notes

References

General

^ Randolph, Eleanor. "How to Succeed an Eight-Term Legend in South Carolina". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
^ Halbfinger, David M. "THE 2002 ELECTIONS: THE GOVERNOR RACES; G.O.P. May Retain Its Lead in Statehouses". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
^ "Rep. Lindsey Graham - South Carolina District 03". OpenSecrets.
^ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^ "2002 U.S. SENATE RESULTS". fec.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2019.

Specific

Bullock, Charles S.; Mark J. Rozell (2006). The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 39–41.
Hammond, James (November 6, 2002). "Graham claims Thurmond legacy for U.S. Senate". GreenvilleOnline.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
Johnson, Sasha (May 3, 2002). "S.C. Democrats eye Thurmond, fall elections". CNN. Archived from the original on March 19, 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
Kiker, Douglas (August 9, 2002). "Trying To Fill Ol' Strom's Shoes". CBS News. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
Manjoo, Farhad (November 1, 2002). "Guns, lies and the Internet in South Carolina". Salon.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2008.