{"id":9225,"date":"2026-07-18T04:06:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T23:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9225"},"modified":"2026-07-18T04:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T23:06:42","slug":"nancy-mace-ralph-norman-still-eyeing-runs-to-replace-lindsey-graham-despite-trump-snub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9225","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman still eyeing runs to replace Lindsey Graham despite Trump snub"},"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\/8NxeLXJAor8fsqRpD8ZsCM4e-dE=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/17\/1784320710448.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) are both still considering bids for the U.S. Senate despite President Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/17\/trump-darline-graham-nordone-senate-endorsement\" target=\"_blank\">endorsing Darline Graham Nordone<\/a> for a full six-year term.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>A run by either could mean a messy Aug. 11 special primary to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on the general election ballot.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>But Mace is still considering a bid, according to two sources familiar with her thinking, with one telling Axios it would be &#8220;political malpractice not to.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Norman, asked if he is still considering a run, told Axios in a text message: &#8220;Yes!!&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Driving the news: <\/strong>Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday that he asked Graham Nordone \u2014 the sister of the late senator who Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appointed to finish Graham&#8217;s term \u2014 to run.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,&#8221; the president <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/%40realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116936914779266256\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> on Truth Social.<\/li>\n<li>Graham Nordone did not immediately respond to a text message asking if she plans to run, though Semafor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semafor.com\/article\/07\/17\/2026\/darline-graham-eyeing-a-run-for-a-full-senate-term\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> she is exploring a run.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out: <\/strong>Several other Republicans had been seen as potential candidates for the seat, including Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.), Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, businessman Mark Lynch and former Rep. Mark Sanford.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sanford, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/02\/13\/mark-sanford-comeback-south-carolina-governor-congress-senate\" target=\"_blank\">briefly ran for his old U.S. House seat<\/a> earlier this year, even took the step of converting his campaign to a Senate committee, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/pdf\/195\/202607169890837195\/202607169890837195.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">filing<\/a> to the Federal Election Commission.<\/li>\n<li>Mace and Norman both ran for governor this year, finishing fifth and third in the Republican primary, respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\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>Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) are both still considering bids for the U.S. Senate despite President Trump endorsing Darline Graham Nordone for a full six-year term. Why it matters: A run by either could mean a messy Aug. 11 special primary to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on the general&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/8NxeLXJAor8fsqRpD8ZsCM4e-dE=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/17\/1784320710448.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9225","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\/9225","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=9225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}