{"id":26734,"date":"2026-08-04T01:59:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26734"},"modified":"2026-08-04T01:59:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:59:25","slug":"trump-wanted-a-lindsey-graham-tribute-south-carolina-republicans-want-a-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26734","title":{"rendered":"Trump wanted a Lindsey Graham tribute. South Carolina Republicans want a choice"},"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<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\" data-body-type=\"bodyblocks\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">By Nolan D. McCaskill<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump&#8217;s bid to install Lindsey Graham&#8217;s sister as South Carolina&#8217;s next senator has met unexpected resistance from Republican voters and rivals, setting up a crowded primary that will test the limits of Trump&#8217;s political influence in one of his strongest states.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After Senator Lindsey \u200cGraham died on July 11 at age 71 from a heart ailment, Governor Henry McMaster appointed his sister, Darline Graham, to serve the remainder of his term, \u200cwhich expires in January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump called the appointment a &#8220;fabulous tribute&#8221; and urged voters to elect her to a full six-year term in the August 11 special election, promising his &#8220;Complete and Total Endorsement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some Republicans say Darline Graham is a fitting \u200bcaretaker for her brother&#8217;s seat but oppose Trump&#8217;s push to elect her to a full term, arguing voters should choose from a field that remains crowded despite the president&#8217;s endorsement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">U.S. Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor, said South Carolina&#8217;s conservative voters were upset by the president&#8217;s endorsement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;His candidate lost in the governor&#8217;s race, and his candidate&#8217;s going to lose in the Senate race,&#8221; said Mace, who is supporting U.S. Representative Ralph Norman. &#8220;This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put in a tried and true conservative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The president&#8217;s endorsement &#8220;gets you into a runoff,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but it doesn&#8217;t get \u200cyou to win. It&#8217;s not enough to win a race anymore.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The \u2060runoff between the top two vote-getters will be on August 25 if no single candidate wins a majority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">DONORS QUESTION CREDENTIALS<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Supporters say the most popular politicians in the state \u2014 including Trump and Senator Tim Scott \u2014 have spoken favorably of Darline Graham, who is leading in opinion polls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In interviews, however, \u2060Republican donors said Darline Graham has hidden behind the grieving process and her brother&#8217;s surname, noting how little she has engaged with reporters and how quickly references to her full name \u2014 Darline Graham Nordone \u2014 have disappeared since she was sworn in. They also say she lacks the credentials to merit serving a full term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Graham&#8217;s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but she told Sean Hannity of \u200bFox \u200bNews that being a politician was not something she ever wanted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;That was Lindsey&#8217;s life, not mine,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But \u200bwhen they asked, it didn&#8217;t take me long. &#8230; I knew that \u200cI had to step up. I had to carry on his legacy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Graham will be one of five candidates at a debate on Monday night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">NINE CANDIDATES VIE FOR NOMINATION<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At least nine candidates are seeking the Republican nomination, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, a former governor and a wealthy businessman who ran against Lindsey Graham in the original primary. A 10th candidate has challenged whether he can appear on the ballot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A former aide to Lindsey Graham said rival candidates will tear into one another to emerge as the alternative to Graham&#8217;s sister in a runoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The former aide rejected criticism that Darline Graham has run a low-profile campaign and avoided public scrutiny, noting how quickly Lindsey Graham&#8217;s team had to organize funerals in Washington and \u200cSouth Carolina for an international figure while transitioning her from private citizen to senator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;People will be really impressed \u200bwhen they learn more and see more of her,&#8221; the former aide said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mark Lynch, a self-funding Republican outsider \u200bwho got 134,000 primary votes in his longshot Senate bid, said voters are concerned \u200bthat Darline Graham isn&#8217;t qualified to represent the state because she has no record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Lynch, Mace and others also disputed whether she&#8217;s eligible to run, \u200cciting a state party rule requiring that candidates vote in at least \u200btwo of the previous three statewide Republican primaries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;People are \u200bfurious&#8221; about &#8220;the coronation of Darline Graham,&#8221; Lynch said. &#8220;It&#8217;s OK that they picked her to be the interim senator until January but not to run for office.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Recent polls show Graham leading by a double-digit margin, with Norman, U.S. Representative Russell Fry and former Governor Mark Sanford competing for the second runoff spot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Allies of Norman, who ran unsuccessfully for \u200bgovernor, say he is best positioned to win the Republican nomination \u200cin a runoff against Darline Graham because he has a long conservative legislative record. Norman&#8217;s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A campaign consultant \u200bfor Fry said voters see the 41-year-old as a generational change candidate who could shake things up in the Senate. Fry is a Trump ally who \u200bis considered a rising star.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill. Editing by Michael Learmonth and Howard Goller)<\/p>\n<\/div>\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>By Nolan D. McCaskill WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump&#8217;s bid to install Lindsey Graham&#8217;s sister as South Carolina&#8217;s next senator has met unexpected resistance from Republican voters and rivals, setting up a crowded primary that will test the limits of Trump&#8217;s political influence in one of his strongest states. After Senator Lindsey&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/7ffed7b15b11f953ee57404436764377129e4d29cd19a60477e7b47d3890f6fa\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w800_h533;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Freuters.com%2Faa1cb2942c984429e8d367934049c9b2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26734","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=26734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}