On the same day the late Lindsey Graham was memorialized in Washington at the Capitol and the National Cathedral, the filing period for the August 11 special primary to replace him as Republican nominee for another Senate term closed. A dozen candidates qualified to run, some formidable, some forgettable, and even a couple who don’t appear to live in South Carolina.

Three potentially strong Republicans decided, in the end, to give the race a pass. One was Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, who apparently decided one bitter defeat — she was trounced in a gubernatorial runoff by Attorney General Alan Wilson in late June — was enough to risk for this year. Another was soon-to-be-former congresswoman and attention magnet Nancy Mace, who did much worse than Evette in the gubernatorial contest. And a third was former congressman Trey Gowdy, a blast from the past who is now a Fox News gabber and is safe from contemporary South Carolina GOP conflicts and rivalries. Gowdy decided to stick with his day job.

Even without these worthies, the Senate field is broad and deep enough that it’s very unlikely anyone will win a majority on August 11, so the top-two finishers will proceed to an August 25 runoff. If there’s anything worse, turnout-wise, than a mid-August special election in the hellish summer weather of South Carolina, it’s a late-August runoff. So you can expect all the candidates to list to the right ideologically in order to appeal to the most likely Republican voters.

The candidates likely to compete seriously for the runoff field are congressmen Ralph Norman and Russell Fry and interim senator (and Lindsey Graham’s adored little........

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