President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Darline Graham to succeed her late brother for a full Senate term has sparked a backlash among his supporters.
Graham, a disability services worker who had never held elected office, was chosen by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to fill Lindsey Graham’s seat after the senator suddenly died earlier this month.
While the appointment was originally viewed as a placeholder for the remainder of Lindsey Graham’s current term, which ends in early 2027, Darline announced unexpectedly that she was also running for a full six-year term, earning Trump’s endorsement in the upcoming Republican primary.
That endorsement, however, appears poised to backfire, according to The Washington Post.
Darline Graham’s chances of winning the primary appear slim, and some Republicans are annoyed that Trump wants to hand her a coveted Senate term based on family ties instead of a proven conservative record, sources told the paper.
Republican voters have already rejected Trump’s preferred candidates in the GOP primaries for the South Carolina, Georgia, and Iowa governor’s races.
Despite Trump’s support, a dozen GOP candidates have filed to run in the August 11 primary, including two U.S. congressmen and former Governor Mark Sanford, making it likely the race will head to a run-off on August 25.
More than a dozen South Carolina Republicans told the Post that Darline Graham was facing strong political headwinds in part because she has no voting record and remains a political enigma.
Her connection to the hawkish Lindsey Graham could also be a liability in the primary, with some members of the MAGA movement souring on the Iran War and other foreign conflicts, according to the Post.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Graham’s campaign for comment.
Since being sworn in two weeks ago, Graham has tried to court MAGA voters by backing Trump’s SAVE Act, which would introduce onerous voting restrictions, touting her anti-abortion beliefs, and announcing her support for various right-wing causes.
She has nevertheless faced questions about her MAGA bona fides after it was revealed by The Swamp, the Daily Beast’s Washington insider newsletter, that her only political donation on record was to a female Republican legislator who blocked a total abortion ban in South Carolina.
She also didn’t vote in the 2024 presidential primary.
Darline Graham plans to campaign to the right of her brother, but she has very little time to introduce herself to voters, sources told the Post.
For now, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman is favored to win the nomination, while Rep. Russell Fry—whom Trump planned to endorse before Graham entered the race—is also expected to make a strong showing.
Republican Senate leaders Tim Scott of South Carolina, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota have so far held off on backing Graham.
“Darline is really in for a dogfight,” a Republican official told the Post.
