Graham wins primary; Democrats too close to call; very few people show up at the polls

Sen. Lindsey Graham easily won his primary Tuesday against a fellow Republican who accused him of being too liberal for South Carolina and hammered his ties to John McCain.

In South Carolina, Graham had 67 percent of the vote, compared with 33 percent for challenger Buddy Witherspoon, according to unofficial tallies.

Graham's apparent statewide defeat of Witherspoon in the GOP Primary was mirrored in Cherokee County, where Graham garnered 762 votes to Witherspoon's 577.

Witherspoon, a retired orthodontist and former Republican National Committee member, criticized the one-term incumbent Graham as too liberal for conservative South Carolina. He also took heat from potential Democratic challengers on a failed illegal immigration measure he and McCain worked on.

Attorney Michael Cone and engineer Bob Conley were seeking the Democratic Party's nod to run for Graham's seat Tuesday. With all precincts reporting, the race between the two was nearly evenly split and headed to an automatic recount.

In Cherokee County, Conley bettered Cone 109 to 81.

Overall, voting was extremely light in Cherokee County. A mere .75 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the GOP primary while just 5.37 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the Democratic race.

Suzanne Turner, executive director of the Cherokee County Election Commission, reported a mostly uneventful day at the county's polls. One voting machine needed a battery replacement in the Morgan precinct because it wasn't charging appropriately. All returns in the county were tabulated by about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.