Trump-endorsed Sen. Darline Graham wins South Carolina special Republican primary

Sen. Darline Graham beat Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina’s Republican special primary runoff Tuesday, in a closely watched test of President Donald Trump’s endorsement power.

With nearly all the votes tallied, Graham led Norman by five percentage points – 52.5% to 47.5%. 

Trump’s bet on Graham pays off 

Trump recruited and heavily endorsed Graham following the death of her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, in July – and MAGA Inc, Trump’s allied super PAC, threw in a last-minute infusion of nearly $830,000 to boost her.

Appointed to the seat by Gov. Henry McMaster, she’s now running for a full term and will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in November. Graham is expected to win in the deep red southern state, where the Cook Political Report ranks the general election as solidly Republican.

Contacted for comment, the White House pointed Heartlander News to Trump’s remarks at a rally for Graham on Friday.

“So, Darline, we got to win that race, and we appreciate that you’re doing it. I asked her to do it,” Trump said, adding that he told McMaster she should run because “she’s fantastic.”

Trump said he thinks Graham will “do phenomenally” in the Senate. “You know, she’s never done it before, but she knows politics well,” he said. “But she loves our military; she loves things that have to do with greatness for America.”

At the rally, Trump told voters to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” warning them that they will “lose everything that we’ve done” if they didn’t get out to vote.

Graham, who recently faced pushback after a foreign policy blunder during a debate where she said, “I’m not that informed on national security,” sought to paint her status as a political newcomer as an asset.

“Now, the critics say I shouldn’t run for the Senate. They say I’m not a politician,” she said. “You know what I say? Guilty as charged.”

Graham said she is a volleyball mom and a “proud red-blooded American.”

“I know boys do not have any place in girls’ sports. Certainly not in the locker room. I am strongly pro-life,” she said at the rally. “I will always stand for the second amendment.”

On the ground in South Carolina

Following her victory, Graham thanked Trump for his influence in the race: “South Carolina is truly Trump country.”

She acknowledged her opponent in the primary, Norman, and said she would work hard to earn his supporters’ votes to unite the party against Democrats in the general election. Republicans’ squabbles are “minor compared to the major differences we have with our Democratic opponents,” she said. “People are moving to South Carolina in droves to get away from the blue state policies of the democratic socialists.”

Norman, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he couldn’t compete with the millions of dollars in outside spending in the race.

“We had $8 million spent against us. We couldn’t come up with that much money,” he said. “All of our money came from South Carolina and from my personal account. My opponents, the money came from outside PACs.”

Norman also acknowledged Trump’s heavy influence in the race. “You know the president got involved. He has that right. That’s his prerogative,” he said, which was met with booing from the crowd. “Y’all, his policies are good. I never understood why he got in this race.”