WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is visiting South Carolina on Friday to give a final boost to Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, before the state's U.S. Senate Republican primary runoff election.
Trump is set to speak at an evening rally for Graham in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, days before the Aug. 25 runoff between Graham, who Trump has endorsed, and Rep. Ralph Norman, a hardline conservative and member of the House Freedom Caucus who backs Trump.
The election will test the power of Trump's endorsement among Republican voters after several Trump-backed candidates have lostin recent Republican primaries for Congress.
Graham finished
first in the Aug. 11 special Republican primary with 33% of the vote, topping Norman, who finished with 25%, and U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who got 20% of the vote. But a runoff was triggered because Graham did not secure a majority of the vote.
Graham, 62, is a longtime state bureaucrat in South Carolina government who since 2019 has worked as commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. She's a political novice who has never before ran for elected office ‒ and it has at times showed on the short campaign trail.
"I’m just going to be honest here," Graham said during an Aug. 18 candidates' debate when asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea. "I’m not that informed on national security, so — but I do support the military."
She reiterated: "I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military."
Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to fill the remainder of her brother's term just days after Sen. Lindsey Graham died on July 11 of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Prior to his death, Graham had already won the Republican nomination in a June primary.
The winner of the special election will replace Lindsey Graham on the November ballot to take on Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a physician.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump heads to South Carolina to boost Darline Graham before runoff
