Graham, who was appointed to hold the Senate seat until the beginning of January following her brother’s death on July 11, defeated Representative Ralph Norman and will run in November’s election for a full, six-year Senate term.
Trump endorsed her candidacy and backed that up with large campaign contributions from his MAGA INC super PAC.
Rallying for her on Friday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Trump placed the spotlight on himself and proclaimed, “I am on the ballot.”
Graham, 62, will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in the general election and is expected to prevail easily in the deeply conservative state.
This primary was one of a series of tests of Trump’s sway with voters in this year’s midterm elections, as he tries to use his bully pulpit to prevent Democrats from wresting control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate from his Republican party.
But his record of endorsements this cycle has been mixed, with polls showing he continues to be weighed down by rising consumer prices and an unpopular war with Iran.
Trump’s MAGA INC., spent $827,711 in support of Graham, according to its filing on Monday with the Federal Election Commission, in a rare instance of the president putting financial support behind his favored candidate.
For her part, Graham used Friday’s rally to try to recover from what has been cast as an earlier debate misstep when she said she was not knowledgeable about national security issues – the kind that helped define her brother’s career in the Senate.
“Guilty as charged,” Graham proclaimed at the rally. Instead, she focused her remarks on domestic issues, including Trump’s immigration clampdown and anti-abortion advocacy.
She had never held public office until her appointment to the Senate, having previously held positions advocating for persons with physical disabilities.
South Carolina has overwhelmingly embraced Trump in all three of his runs for president and is not likely to play a role in the battle for the control of Congress.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/darline-graham-vies-senate-seat-with-trumps-clout-line-2026-08-25/
