{"id":129567,"date":"2026-08-25T18:03:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=129567"},"modified":"2026-09-06T14:43:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:43:46","slug":"political-newcomer-darline-graham-wins-south-carolinas-gop-senate-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=129567","title":{"rendered":"Political newcomer Darline Graham wins South Carolina\u2019s GOP Senate runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina\u2019s snap Senate GOP primary, a significant win for President Donald Trump after a string of his endorsed candidates stumbled in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

The president went to great lengths<\/a> to get her over the finish line: He encouraged her to get into the race with his early endorsement, reiterated that support as she fumbled on the debate stage, and rallied for her in Myrtle Beach<\/a> \u2014 a step that he hasn\u2019t taken for most of his preferred candidates this cycle.<\/p>\n

The support didn\u2019t stop there. MAGA Inc., Trump\u2019s behemoth super PAC, spent over $827,000<\/a> on phone calls and text messages for Graham, money that Republicans in competitive battlegrounds have been anxiously waiting for.<\/p>\n

Her victory proves that Trump\u2019s backing is still a decisive force in Republican politics when he chooses to give his candidate of choice unwavering and active support.<\/p>\n

Graham will replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, on the ballot in November as the Republican nominee. She is all but guaranteed election to a full Senate term in deep red South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s loyal backing proved crucial for Graham in the two-week runoff sprint, after a debate stage fumble on foreign policy<\/a> led Norman and his allies to attack her for her political inexperience. The president\u2019s appearance alongside Graham at a rally in the final days of the race allowed her to close out the primary by reiterating her close ties to Trump.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s win is a remarkable coup for a figure who was unknown to the public just a few weeks ago. She had no prior experience in elected office until she was appointed to the Senate by GOP Gov. Henry McMaster after her brother Lindsey died unexpectedly in July. Since 2019, she has led South Carolina\u2019s Commission for the Blind and had previously worked for the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department.<\/p>\n

Norman, meanwhile, is a Freedom Caucus stalwart who\u2019s served nine years in Congress and clashed with Trump occasionally over spending \u2014 though he\u2019s largely backed the president\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

In the end, his experience didn\u2019t win over voters, and he also saw backlash from the solar industry, which spent $1 million<\/a> to help defeat him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina\u2019s snap Senate GOP primary, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPolitical newcomer Darline Graham wins South Carolina\u2019s GOP Senate runoff - Marin & theNation Resists<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/25\/darline-graham-wins-south-carolina-senate-runoff-01050320\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political newcomer Darline Graham wins South Carolina\u2019s GOP Senate runoff - Marin & theNation Resists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sen. 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Republicans in battlegrounds wonder if it was the best use of his time and money. Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina\u2019s snap Senate GOP runoff, handing Trump a revitalizing win after several of his endorsed candidates\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129569,"url":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=129569","url_meta":{"origin":129567,"position":1},"title":"South Carolina could give Trump a revitalizing win \u2014 or his most embarrassing loss","author":"rfoldnc","date":"August 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Donald Trump is facing one of his biggest tests of the midterms \u2014 and it\u2019s of his own making. The president has spent a significant amount of time and money trying to help Sen. Darline Graham defeat Rep. Ralph Norman in Tuesday\u2019s snap GOP Senate primary. He\u2019s done more for\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129573,"url":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=129573","url_meta":{"origin":129567,"position":2},"title":"Trump\u2019s MAGA Inc. makes last-minute buy for Darline Graham in South Carolina runoff","author":"rfoldnc","date":"August 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"President Donald Trump is using a bit of his mostly untapped $400 million MAGA Inc. warchest to boost Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina \u2014 the first significant expenditure his team has made this year for one of his chosen candidates, according to campaign finance reports. The super PAC has\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129516,"url":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=129516","url_meta":{"origin":129567,"position":3},"title":"Trump invites battleground Republicans to Rose Garden dinner","author":"rfoldnc","date":"September 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"President Donald Trump has invited a group of GOP lawmakers including Republicans in competitive races to dine with him Wednesday night at the White House as many in the party press the president to unleash his massive war chest ahead of the November elections, according to five people with direct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politico_Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politico_Politics","link":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114705,"url":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=114705","url_meta":{"origin":129567,"position":4},"title":"The GOP race for SC governor heats up without Trump\u2019s endorsement \u2014 for now","author":"rfoldnc","date":"October 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"One Republican candidate in South Carolina\u2019s open gubernatorial primary said Donald Trump would \u201cdecide my fate.\u201d Another pledged to send the state\u2019s National Guard troops wherever Trump wants. A third accompanied the then-presidential candidate to his 2024 criminal trial in Manhattan. In recent interviews with POLITICO, three contenders for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70333,"url":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/?p=70333","url_meta":{"origin":129567,"position":5},"title":"Former Rep. Joe Walsh is considering a bid against GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham","author":"rfoldnc","date":"June 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Joe Walsh, the former Tea Party congressman, right-wing radio host and current Never Trumper, is eyeing a possible move to South Carolina. He says he\u2019s considering a run as a Democratic Senate candidate against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Walsh, who became a registered Democrat last week, told POLITICO that Democrats\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129568,"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129567\/revisions\/129568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinresists.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}