Darline Graham Nordone has emerged as the “clear favorite” to win a GOP primary to replace her late brother in the Senate, says the CNN data guru Harry Enten.
Enten says the political newcomer’s comfortable lead is thanks to an endorsement by President Donald Trump in the wake of Lindsey Graham’s unexpected death on July 11.
“Darline Graham’s chances have rocketed up because rarely has the power of one man and his endorsements in primaries has been as strong [as] with Donald Trump,” he told CNN’s John Berman on Tuesday.
Kalshi gave Graham Nordone just a 14 percent chance of winning the primary as recently as Friday, prior to Trump’s endorsement. Now, the 62-year-old’s likelihood of winning has reached 80 percent.
“No wonder why the prediction markets and the conventional wisdom have moved so rapidly, once Trump made that endorsement, because at least in Senate races, Trump’s record this year is 100 percent,” Enten said.
Graham Nordone announced Monday she would officially run for her brother’s seat.
She has already been appointed to finish Lindsey’s term, which ends in January, and has indicated that she will be more focused on domestic issues, like the affordability crisis, and less on ending the Russia-Ukraine war and beating the war drum over Iran.
Trump’s endorsement has not stopped Republican challengers from throwing their name into the mix, however.
The MAGA Rep. Russell Fry entered the race officially on Monday just ahead of Graham doing so herself.
In his launch video, Fry depicts himself next to Trump and declares himself a “MAGA Warrior.”
Fry says he is fully MAGA-aligned, perhaps only breaking with the president on who should be the Republican Senate candidate for South Carolina this fall.
Republican Rep. Ralph Norman and the South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch have also entered the race.
Graham Nordone previously served as the head of South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind, one of the many jobs she has had that help people with disabilities find work. The Graham siblings were close growing up, especially following the loss of their parents when Lindsey was 22, and Darline was 13.
Graham Nordone has never run for or held office prior to this month.
