In recent years, few forces in electoral politics have been as potent as an endorsement from Donald Trump. However, the first polls in the special South Carolina primary race for the Senate seat that was held by the late Lindsey Graham shows his sister Darline is in second place, with half of GOP voters saying her Trump endorsement is irrelevant to them. Graham's campaign faces other headwinds, as many South Carolina Republicans aren't enthusiastic about turning one of their Senate seats into an inheritance for someone with a thin political resume.
After Lindsey Graham suddenly died on July 11, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to be a placeholder for the remainder of her brother's term that ends in January. It was seen as a sentimental and politically-safe gesture, with no expectation that she would enter the race for the six-year term that starts on July 11. Then Trump issued a Truth social post, encouraging her to run and saying she'd have his full endorsement. Three days later, Graham told Fox's Sean Hannity "I'm in."
According to an Emerson College poll of the crowded race, Graham is starting in second place. She has the support of only 19% of likely GOP primary voters, while US Rep. Ralph Norman leads the way at 22%. A 73-year-old with a background as a real estate developer, Norman has represented South Carolina's 5th District since 2017, and served in the state legislature for 11 years before that. Graham has never held an elected office. Until this summer, she was commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, and earlier held a communications role in the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department.
Two other candidates are in the double-digits: US Rep Russell Fry at 12% and former governor and former House representative Mark Sanford at 11%. Fry, who was reportedly hand-picked by Trump to unseat Republican Tom Rice in 2022, as payback for Rice's vote to impeach Trump over the Jan 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot. A quarter of likely voters are still making up their minds. The primary is just a week away, on Tuesday, Aug 11, and the top five candidates debated on Monday evening. Unsurprisingly given her lack of experience discussing national issues, some observers said Graham seemed to lean heavily on her notes. Then, in a moment of spontaneity, Graham oddly suggested that constant noise from data centers is somehow a uniquely leftist and maybe imaginary concern:
With no candidate likely to top 50%, expect a run-off of the top two vote-getters on Aug. 25. Assuming Graham makes it to the run-off, our intuition tells us most of those who'd voted for someone other than Graham in the Aug. 11 primary will migrate to the remaining non-Graham option.
The race is a test of Trump's endorsement power, and only 29% of those polled by Emerson say Trump's endorsement makes them more likely to support a given candidate. 53% say a Trump endorsement doesn't affect them one way or the other -- but 18% say Trump's endorsement makes them less likely to support the endorsee. Not surprisingly, Graham's greatest strength comes from the oldest voters: 30% of voters over age 70 back her.
Trump's endorsement has ruffled feathers of Republicans in the Palmetto State, including Dorchester County GOP chair CJ Westfall. Speaking in the context of Trump's endorsee for governor having been clobbered in the June primary, Westfall told CNN:
"The president continues to get bad advice about South Carolina. We certainly empathize with Darline — and even the president, as Lindsey was a really good friend of his — but he’s certainly getting bad advice. We’ve got a lot more exciting options for this seat. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
Other members of the GOP machine in South Carolina are likewise irked by Trump's move, with one state legislator calling it a "backroom deal" and another saying "Trump threw us all a curveball with Darline. That wasn’t expected. It wasn’t exactly welcomed here, either."
Importantly, only 4% of Republican special election voters think their senator should focus on foreign policy. That's not good news for Darline Graham, as her brother was only known for his foreign policy exploits that centered on collaborating with the State of Israel to support US interventions in the Middle East, and partnering with Ukraine in America's proxy war with Russia. Reading the winds, Darline Graham has already made a point to say she wants to focus more on domestic issues like the cost of living.