{"id":16465,"date":"2026-07-25T05:41:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T00:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16465"},"modified":"2026-07-25T05:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T00:41:35","slug":"republicans-skeptical-darline-graham-can-win-a-full-senate-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16465","title":{"rendered":"Republicans skeptical Darline Graham can win a full Senate term"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/jVnzVgtel11lu0bv2h4d1mW-0NE=\/0x383:6350x3955\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/23\/1784835615963.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>She has President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Trump<\/a>&#8216;s endorsement and is a sympathetic figure after the death of her brother, Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/12\/lindsey-graham-dies-john-mccain-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Lindsey Graham<\/a>. As Graham&#8217;s temporary replacement, she&#8217;s a symbol of the political brand he built over more than two decades in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Driving the news:<\/strong> Even so, Darline Graham faces an uphill battle to win a full Senate term in November, Republicans in D.C. and her home state of South Carolina tell Axios.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>South Carolina&#8217;s rapidly approaching Aug. 11 primary has become a test of whether those advantages are enough to carry the late senator&#8217;s sister \u2014 a political novice suddenly swept into the limelight \u2014 to a six-year term in Congress&#8217; upper chamber.<\/li>\n<li>Skeptics throughout the GOP party are surprised Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/17\/trump-darline-graham-nordone-senate-endorsement\" target=\"_blank\">endorsed<\/a> Darline Graham for a full term so quickly after Gov. Henry McMaster picked her to serve the last few months of her brother&#8217;s term. Trump &#8220;just likes her&#8221; is a common theory.<\/li>\n<li>They also note other Republican leaders have been more wary: She hasn&#8217;t been endorsed for a full term by any Senate leaders or McMaster.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in: <\/strong>A half-dozen GOP operatives pointed to three reasons why all those advantages may not be enough for Darline Graham to get elected:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. The Graham name cuts both ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lindsey Graham never fully won over South Carolina&#8217;s conservative base, which was skeptical of his bipartisan dealmaking, support for immigration reform and past criticism of Trump.<\/li>\n<li>That was evident in the GOP special primary in June, when Graham failed to crack 60% of the vote despite facing lesser-known opponents who had a fraction of his war chest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The operatives expect <\/strong>Darline Graham to inherit her brother&#8217;s ceiling of support.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;She&#8217;s going to be closely linked [to Lindsey], so voters will base their decision on how they feel about him,&#8221; said Scott English, a former chief of staff to ex-Gov. Mark Sanford who said he&#8217;s staying neutral in the Senate race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. She really is an unknown.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The operatives and other Republicans say South Carolina voters know the Graham name \u2014 but not Darline Graham.<\/li>\n<li>The special primary&#8217;s tight timetable benefits better-known candidates such as Rep. Ralph Norman, who built a statewide profile in his unsuccessful bid for governor.<\/li>\n<li>Also in the running is Rep. Russell Fry, who spent seven years in the state legislature.<\/li>\n<li>Several early polls have shown Graham trailing in the GOP race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>&#8220;She has a lot of work to do<\/strong> to win over the constituents that she hasn&#8217;t had the time [to meet] through a grassroots effort,&#8221; former South Carolina GOP chair Chad Connelly said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Compounding the challenge: Graham hasn&#8217;t really defined herself politically, Republicans say.<\/li>\n<li>Is she exactly in line with her late brother&#8217;s politics? When she was on South Carolina&#8217;s Commission for the Blind, people who worked with her brother said they never saw her take a deep interest in the nuts and bolts of policymaking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>On Wednesday,<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KellyLMcCarty\/status\/2079962357321638088\" target=\"_blank\">video circulated<\/a> of staffers shielding her from a questioner who asked whether she supported the SAVE America Act, the Trump-backed voting legislation that&#8217;s stalled in the Senate. (Graham had <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DarlineGrahamSC\/status\/2079674489043042591?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> she would co-sponsor the legislation.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Graham also hasn&#8217;t committed to participate in campaign debates, unlike her leading rivals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. South Carolina&#8217;s not big on succession.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trump&#8217;s quick backing of Darline Graham while praising her brother has reinforced a perception that she&#8217;s inheriting the Senate seat rather than earning it, several Republicans told Axios.<\/li>\n<li>South Carolina has a long history of antiestablishment politics \u2014 and of bristling at perceived political succession and insider handoffs.<\/li>\n<li>State voters twice have rejected appointed senators who sought full terms, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/about\/origins-foundations\/electing-appointing-senators\/thurmond-write-in-ballot.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\">1954<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scencyclopedia.org\/sce\/entries\/hollings-ernest-frederick\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\">1966<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>A more recent example came last month, <\/strong>when Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette lost the GOP primary for governor after being endorsed by Trump and McMaster.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The other side: <\/strong>For all their doubts about Graham, many Republicans caution against writing her off.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trump&#8217;s endorsement remains the most valuable asset in GOP politics.<\/li>\n<li>She&#8217;s inheriting her brother&#8217;s team of veteran operatives who know the state better than almost anyone.<\/li>\n<li>Lindsey Graham&#8217;s death has generated considerable goodwill toward Darline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>There&#8217;s also the money. <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lindsey Graham&#8217;s campaign fund has more than $2 million on hand, and Darline&#8217;s advisers are exploring whether she can legally access those funds.<\/li>\n<li>The super PAC that supported the late senator announced Thursday it plans to spend $900,000 to support Darline&#8217;s campaign. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying: <\/strong>&#8220;Darline Graham will work hard to earn voters&#8217; trust. She knows how hard a campaign is \u2014 she had a front-row seat for Lindsey&#8217;s for years,&#8221; Graham spokesperson Abby Zilch told Axios.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Darline is building momentum each and every day with her conservative Senate voting record \u2014 pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-SAVE America Act \u2014 and is already being praised for the bills she&#8217;s introducing.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>This story has been updated with the comment from Graham&#8217;s spokesperson.<\/em><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>She has President Trump&#8216;s endorsement and is a sympathetic figure after the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. As Graham&#8217;s temporary replacement, she&#8217;s a symbol of the political brand he built over more than two decades in the Senate. Driving the news: Even so, Darline Graham faces an uphill battle to win a full&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/jVnzVgtel11lu0bv2h4d1mW-0NE=\/0x383:6350x3955\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/23\/1784835615963.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}