It's been 135 days since the start of the Iran War, and a diplomatic solution seems shakier than ever. President Donald Trump said Monday that "we're taking over the Strait of Hormuz," a day after announcing that "we bombed the hell out of them." Iran also asserted control of the formerly freely navigable waterway after retaliating with attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman.
And Congress is returning following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. His death after a tear in his aorta Saturday leaves Republicans with just 51 members, with Mitch McConnell still recovering and South Carolina's governor needing to appoint Graham's interim successor.
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How will a special primary work?
South Carolina law requires a one-week filing period beginning July 21, for a special primary to be held on Aug. 11. A runoff if necessary would be held on Aug. 25, leaving the nominee just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.
All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal election. For the general election primary, that would have been June 27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a message seeking clarity.
Does Graham’s death provide more of an opening for Democrats?
No Democrat has won a Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double digits. When he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin. But Republicans are carefully surveying the landscape after margins have tightened in other races.
Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews won the Democratic nomination last month and has raised more than $8 million, with just under $3 million cash on hand at the end of May, according to federal filings. Graham had taken in $6 million, with just over $4 million on hand.
In a statement Sunday, Andrews called on South Carolinians to join her “in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude” to Graham for his service.
Who could replace Graham?
Here’s how Graham’s death is scrambling South Carolina politics
Graham's death on Saturday as he was running for a fifth term begins a tumultuous new chapter in South Carolina politics. As the conservative state's senior senator and an influential Trump ally, Graham was presumed to be on a glide path toward reelection.
Now, Gov. Henry McMaster must choose a temporary replacement to serve until January while the state also prepares a special primary so voters can choose a new Republican nominee for November’s general election. That appointed temporary caretaker could be a top contender in the special primary.
The rare open Senate seat has ignited a scramble among South Carolina's most ambitious conservatives, who just finished a sprawling and bruising contest to succeed McMaster. State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the nomination. Also-rans including Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman are all now eyeing Graham's seat following his death over the weekend.
Top Iran adviser says Iran won't retreat from controlling the strait
Mohammed Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, says Tehran will fight for the Strait of Hormuz.
“We defend it so that in the future, for the passage of our ships, we are not forced to pay tribute to the enemy!” he wrote on X. “Retreating from this vital matter has no place in the mind of any friend of Iran.”
Trump says ‘we’re taking over the Strait’ of Hormuz
That’s what Trump said Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”
Both the U.S. and Iran asserted Monday that they controlled the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks stretching across the wider Middle East, further threatening any diplomacy to end the war.
Trump also said that “everything was agreed to” in an 11-hour meeting Sunday, but Iranian negotiators called back later “and they say, ’we had to make a couple of changes.” He didn’t specify details.
The latest exchange was sparked by an Iranian attack on a container ship on Sunday in the strait, a critical waterway for international oil and gas over which Iran has asserted control since the United States and Israel started the war on Feb. 28.
Graham’s death a setback for Senate Republicans and Ukraine
Congress is returning after a summer break, with the Senate convening following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. His death after a tear in his aorta Saturday leaves Republicans with just 51 members, with Mitch McConnell still recovering and South Carolina's governor needing to appoint Graham's interim successor.
This makes Trump's already contentious congressional agenda even more uncertain. It also leaves Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy without a key ally who had Trump's ear: Graham was a strong supporter of Ukraine, pressing the president to be firmer on Russia President Vladimir Putin. Now Zelenskyy and Kyiv are reeling from his death.
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