The race for Senate in South Carolina is now so close that a major election forecaster is calling it a toss-up, the latest sign of Democrats' strength in the South as the party tries to wrest control of the upper chamber from Republicans on Tuesday.
Fox News Power Rankings announced the switch from Lean Republican on Oct. 29. The change comes after weeks of several election forecasters inching the race closer and closer to Democrats, and days after three polls from different polling firms also suggested a tight race.
President Donald Trump is headed to South Carolina today to campaign for Sen. Darline Graham, a disability advocate whom the Republican governor hand-picked to replace her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. But Democrat Annie Andrews,
a pediatrician, has been mounting a competitive campaign with support from Republicans.
"Big Rally in South Carolina for the wonderful Darline Graham, today," Trump wrote on social media the morning of Oct. 29. "She is fantastic. Lindsey is watching, and very proud of her!!!"
Election forecasters are already suggesting that Democratic candidates can win Senate seats by wide margins in North Carolina and Georgia; that Democrat James Talarico could squeak by Republican Ken Paxton in Texas; and that the margin is narrowing in the Senate race in Mississippi. A victory in South Carolina would represent enormous Democratic power in the South unseen since President Bill Clinton.
The Citadel, a military college in the state, said in its poll that up to 2% of voters in South Carolina may write in Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican who lost the party's nomination to Graham in a runoff. Norman said in a radio interview that he will vote for Graham because he made a promise, but his family won't.
Kevin Bishop, a former spokesman for Lindsey Graham, suggested in a social media post on Oct. 28 that the idea of a close race is not a ruse. He said the campaign's internal polling in 2020 was also "very, very close."
"Some are suggesting this is some 'polling head-fake,'" Bishop wrote, referring to a situation where one party says they can win to put the other side on their heels. "I wish."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election forecaster says South Carolina race for Senate is a toss-up
