Lindsey Graham
Lindsey GrahamReuters

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has won reelection in South Carolina, defeating Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, in a race pre-election polls had suggested as highly competitive.

With 56% of the vote counted, Graham is leading Harrison by a wide margin, with 56.4% of the vote to Harrison’s 42.2%.

Harrison conceded to Graham shortly before Graham declared victory.

Pre-election polls had shown the race to be highly competitive, with three surveys showing a tie, and a poll in late October showing Graham up by just three points.

Donors poured money into the race, with Harrison breaking fundraising records for the US Senate with over $100 million, edging out Graham, who also raised around $100 million.

Republicans have now won 13 seats in Tuesday’s election, giving them a total of 43 seats. Democrats have won nine seats thus far, for 44 seats total.

Two seats have flipped thus far, including the Democrat-held seat in Alabama, which reverted to the GOP after voting for Doug Jones in a special election in 2017.

The second seat, in Colorado, flipped from Republican to Democrat with incumbent Cory Gardner losing to former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.