Trump-backed Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman conclude South Carolina Senate primary race
Sen. Darline Graham received a $830,000 boost from the MAGA Inc. super PAC as she and Rep. Ralph Norman finish campaigning for the Republican nomination in the special Senate primary.
Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman wrapped up their campaigns on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Republican runoff for South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat. The final day saw a near $830,000 contribution from MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports President Donald Trump, marking the group’s first sizable spend in the state’s 2024 contests.
Graham, appointed to the interim seat after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, has been traveling across the state to meet voters after earlier criticism for remaining in Washington for Senate votes. She held meet-and-greet events in Aiken and Seneca on Monday and participated in a news conference with Governor Henry McMaster, who endorsed her on Friday.
"A vote for Graham would go down as one of the best votes you’ve ever made for a political person," Trump said during a tele-rally supporting her candidacy.
"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," the former president added.
Trump visited Myrtle Beach on Friday for a rally with Graham and urged South Carolina voters to support her at the polls.
Governor McMaster, who appointed Graham to the interim post, said he endorsed her when he felt the timing was appropriate, noting he had not expected her to run for the seat.
Norman, who previously ran for governor, concluded his campaign with events in Greenville, a county that delivered strong support for him in earlier GOP contests. He criticized the super-PAC spending supporting Graham, describing her campaign as funded by special interests and portraying himself as the experienced alternative.
"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.
The runoff winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the November general election, a race in which no Democrat has secured a statewide office in South Carolina for twenty years.