Darline Graham scored a hard-fought win in South Carolina’s Republican Senate runoff, buoyed by the powerful endorsement of President Donald Trump after some GOP figures in her home state openly questioned the strength of her campaign.
Graham, the adopted sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, defeated Congressman Ralph Norman on Tuesday, overcoming a rival who had cast himself as the race’s more seasoned and reliably conservative choice.
NBC News projected Graham as the winner shortly before 9 p.m. Eastern.
Her victory came despite several high-profile missteps in the campaign’s closing week, with Trump intensifying his support through a burst of in-person appearances and virtual rallies aimed at energizing Republican runoff voters.
At a Myrtle Beach rally on Friday, Trump urged his loyal supporters to show up for Graham, framing the vote in personal terms and telling the crowd to cast their ballots as if his own name were on the ticket.
That Trump-fueled turnout appeared to give Graham her clearest edge over Norman, particularly in Horry County, home to Myrtle Beach, where she posted a decisive advantage.
Trump had pushed Graham to launch her Senate bid soon after her brother’s death, putting his influence behind her candidacy from the start.
By the final days of the South Carolina runoff, Trump’s political operation had fully mobilized for Graham, helping carry her across the finish line in a closely watched Republican contest.
What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot. Just come and vote. It’s so important,’ Trump told rally goers in South Carolina on August 21
Senator Tim Scott had backed Graham a week before her debate. ‘I wanted to do so with confidence,’ Scott wrote. ‘After watching Darline Graham in the Senate and on the campaign trail, I’m confident she’s the real deal’
Representative Norman seized on the opportunity to call out Graham on her lack of security knowledge after their debate, writing on X the state ‘deserves a candidate who understands foreign policy’
MAGA Inc., the Trump-aligned super PAC, spent more than $827,000 backing her campaign, while Trump held his second tele-rally for Graham on Monday night as he sought to drive his supporters to the polls.
‘I love her,’ Trump told supporters.
‘I asked her to do it. I got her into this whole thing. I have to make sure she gets in because there will be nobody better.’
But Graham’s campaign was rocked by a brutal debate performance that handed her Republican opponent Ralph Norman an instant line of attack.
During the televised debate, Graham was asked about security interests involving Taiwan and the South China Sea.
‘I’m just gonna be honest here. I’m not on national security — I’m not that informed on national security, so… But I do support the military.’
The admission immediately exploded online and gave Norman a ready-made weapon in a race where the Republican congressman had repeatedly argued that South Carolina needs an experienced senator with a deep understanding of foreign policy.
Norman seized on the moment.
‘South Carolina deserves a Senator who understands Foreign Policy. I’m a peace through strength supporter! No more forever wars!’ he wrote on X.
The gaffe was not Graham’s only stumble.
During the debate, she also claimed that 50 million people in South Carolina were living paycheck to paycheck — a staggering figure given that the state has a population of roughly 5.5 million.
Norman pounced.
‘If we’re going to talk about the affordability crisis in our state, we should start by knowing that South Carolina has Checks Notes 5.5 million people,’ he wrote. Former Representative Adam Morgan piled on: ‘She thinks 50 million people live in South Carolina?’
Norman stayed competitive by winning a cluster of north western counties around Greenville, but it wasn’t enough.
The power of the Trump endorsement proved to outweigh concerns about Graham and her thin public service experience.
Norman conceded defeat to Graham, while making clear he is far from pleased with President Trump’s involvement in the race.
‘His policies are good. I never understood why he got in this race,’ Norman said of Trump’s intervention on Graham’s behalf.
‘It is what it is. I’ll accept it.’
Norman also acknowledged that Democrats had achieved what they wanted.
‘I accept it. I don’t like it, but I accept it,’ Norman added.
Despite his disappointment, Norman said he would support Graham ‘as best I can.’
Graham is now the strong general election favorite against Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician.
