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.

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

[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.

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.

However, strong support in the Lowcountry for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Sanford doomed Sanders chances of running up a margin in the coastal counties.