Trump-backed Super PAC Floods South Carolina Senate Primary as Establishment Republicans Battle for Power
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Sen. Darline Graham, bolstered by an $830,000 infusion from the MAGA Inc. super PAC, and Rep. Ralph Norman, both entrenched in the Republican establishment, concluded their campaigns for the GOP Senate nomination. The race highlights the outsized influence of billionaire-backed PACs and the ongoing grip of Trumpism on South Carolina politics.
Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman, both deeply embedded in the Republican establishment, finished their campaigns on Monday ahead of the Republican runoff for South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat—a contest marred by the corrosive influence of big money and Trumpist politics. The final day saw a staggering $830,000 contribution from MAGA Inc., a super PAC bankrolled by wealthy donors intent on pushing President Donald Trump’s reactionary agenda. This marks the group’s first major intervention in South Carolina’s 2024 races, underscoring how democracy is increasingly auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Graham, who was appointed to the interim seat following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, has faced criticism for prioritizing her role in Washington over connecting with local communities. In a last-ditch effort to appear engaged, she held meet-and-greet events in Aiken and Seneca and staged a news conference with Governor Henry McMaster, who belatedly endorsed her after orchestrating her appointment. The event was little more than political theater, designed to shore up support from the party elite.
"A vote for Graham would go down as one of the best votes you’ve ever made for a political person," Trump declared in a tele-rally, shamelessly inserting himself into the race to ensure his loyalists remain in power.
"I asked her to do it. I got her into this whole thing. I have to make sure she gets in because there will be nobody better," Trump added, making clear that Graham’s candidacy is less about serving South Carolinians and more about serving Trump’s personal interests.
Trump’s rally in Myrtle Beach on Friday, alongside Graham, was a spectacle of demagoguery, as he urged voters to continue supporting his brand of divisive politics.
Governor McMaster, who installed Graham in the interim post, admitted he only endorsed her when it suited his political calculus, highlighting the opportunism that pervades the state’s Republican leadership.
Norman, another establishment figure who previously ran for governor, wrapped up his campaign in Greenville—an area where he has found support among the party’s conservative base. He criticized the flood of super PAC money propping up Graham, but his own record shows he is hardly an outsider to special interests. He positioned himself as the experienced alternative, though his experience has largely served entrenched power structures, not ordinary South Carolinians.
"We’ve had a short runway, and I’m so glad I did this. You have to know it. You have to be in it, and that’s one of the advantages that I have," Norman told voters at a town hall in Anderson, emphasizing his insider status.
The runoff winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November’s general election. South Carolina has not elected a Democrat statewide in two decades, a testament to the GOP’s stranglehold on the state and the urgent need for real change.