COLUMBIA, S.C.— South Carolina Republicans are voting Tuesday to decide who will be the Republican nominee to the U.S. Senate this November following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham last month.
President Trump is backing Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed by South Carolina's Gov. Henry McMaster last month to complete her late brother's term.
Yet some GOP voters say while they respect the president's endorsement, they're choosing other candidates in a crowded field, which raises the possibility that no single candidate will win the majority of the vote. If that happens, the primary heads to a runoff between the top two vote-getters on Aug. 25.
After her appointment, Sen. Darline Graham had a busy few weeks as South Carolina's junior senator voting on key items in Washington, including the confirmation vote of Attorney General Todd Blanche and a bill long championed by her brother to sanction buyers of Russian oil and gas.
"This campaign schedule has been absolutely brutal," Graham told reporters Saturday in Florence, S.C., following a campaign event. "But you know what, I'm still standing, I'm still going and that shows you how strong I am."
At a tele-rally on Monday, President Trump said that Graham is the best candidate to support the goals of his administration.
"[She] will help us achieve our mission to Make America Great Again," Trump said. "She looks so nice, but she's actually tough and strong, and she's the perfect person to carry on Lindsey's legacy."
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Sen. Darline Graham said that she would focus on cost of living concerns.
"He was more of an expert on the federal budget, like I said I know the family struggles so I'm an expert on the family budget," Sen. Darline Graham said of her brother. "While I know national security is important I'm going to be more focused on the family struggles."
A crowded race among several of South Carolina's GOP heavyweights
Several candidates running against Graham are focusing on their experience as elected leaders.
Rep. Ralph Norman, who placed third in the state's June GOP gubernatorial primary, has become a strong fiscal conservative during his time in the U.S. House, calling for cuts to the federal deficit.
"The Senate is the body where good bills die," Norman said following a campaign event earlier this month.
Norman added that he would support "the president's agenda, America first agenda, with peace through strength, the economy we have to get back on track."
In the U.S. House, where Norman has served since 2017, he is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and has been endorsed by GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida.
Rep. Russell Fry defeated former Congressman Tom Rice in the 2022 primary after Rice voted to impeach Trump over inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6.
Now, he's fighting off claims that he isn't MAGA enough and defying Trump by running. That could jeopardize the slim House majority in what is set to be a difficult midterm election for Republicans.
Fry disagrees.
"I think that's a lot of distraction, I think more choices let the conservative movement thrive," Fry told reporters on Saturday in Florence.
Former Congressman and Gov. Mark Sanford was first elected to the House with Lindsey Graham in 1994 as part of the Republican wave. He served three terms before becoming governor in 2003. Sanford appeared to be on a trajectory for higher office when a very public extramarital affair in 2009 derailed that.
However, it didn't stop him from winning back his House seat in 2013, which he held until losing the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2018.
Sanford, who briefly ran for president in 2019 before dropping out, has consistently voiced his concern over the growing national debt and deficit.
On Aug. 6, Sanford replicated a stunt he pulled years ago as governor when he brought two piglets into the South Carolina Statehouse lobby, named Pork and Barrel.
Holding one of three pigs last Thursday he told reporters that he's made tough cuts as governor, a key difference between him and others.
"There is something very different about being an executive and being held responsible for results on the numbers that do impact people's lives here at home," Sanford said, highlighting his experience as governor.
GOP voters weigh in on candidates
Over three days last week, 61,000 Republican voters cast ballots early across the state, according to the South Carolina State Election Commission.
Oconee County is where the late Sen. Lindsey Graham cast his last ballot and on the first day of early voting on Aug. 5, divisions were on display, even though many people had previously voted for the late senator, like Robert Herron.
"I always have liked Sanford," Herron said, adding that government spending was his top issue. "He's experienced and I like his policies. He wants to cut back on things. And I like him as an individual, I think he will be good."
Herron said it was a close call between Sanford and Darline Graham, but for him, Sanford's experience as an elected official was the key factor.
Graham's debate performance earlier in the week did it for Frank Owens.
"I like her demeanor, the way she talks to people and her platform," Owens said. As for Trump's endorsement, "I think I would've gone with Darline either way but it's always nice that they're able to work with the president."
Gigi Vray, a Charleston Republican, said she's voting for Sanford because he best represents the Palmetto State.
"I think the Trump endorsement is important," Vray said. "But I think especially in the state of South Carolina we have so many people coming from the North and the East and so it's a different demographic," she added, referring to the state's transplants from other parts of the country.
"So maybe we need a different kind of candidate to support."
In Rep. Fry's 7th Congressional District, which includes the Republican stronghold of Horry County, home to Myrtle Beach and waves of northern Republican transplants, Deborah Dowd was torn.
"I had two choices: Russell Fry and Mrs. Graham and I chose Mrs. Graham," Dowd said.
"Watching the debate, I felt that I liked her answers and I think her brother did a wonderful job for all the time he's been in the Senate so I went for her."
The winner of the GOP nomination will face the Democratic Senate nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician. But in a state that is overwhelmingly Republican, the winner of the GOP primary will likely go on to win in November's midterm election.
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