South Carolina Republicans head to the polls Tuesday in a Senate runoff that has become a live test of Donald Trump’s influence. On one side is his endorsed candidate, Darline Graham. On the other is Rep. Ralph Norman, who looking to win the nomination sans the president’s blessing.
Graham gave her critics fresh ammunition at a recent debate, stumbling on a foreign-policy question in a way that may have undercut months of campaigning. Asked about U.S. policy toward Taiwan and the South China Sea, she answered that she was “not that informed on national security” and that “national security is not my thing,” while adding that she supports the military. The line spread fast, and with it came a wave of doubt about whether she’s ready to help make decisions of that weight.
She hasn’t exactly run from the criticism. When opponents needled her for being a political outsider, she responded: “Guilty as charged.”
Her pitch is about the things voters actually feel day to day — chiefly the rising cost of living and the squeeze on affordability. She argued that foreign policy is something she’ll learn on the job.
President Trump has thrown his weight behind her in the race. He turned up to rally for her and vouched for her in the final stretch, leaning on his friendship with her late brother and casting her as a reliable vote for his agenda. A super PAC closely tied to him has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into her campaign.
For Trump, it may be personal. South Carolina hasn’t been kind to him lately: in the governor’s race, he backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, then hedged by endorsing both runoff candidates when she failed to close it out, only to watch the other contender, Attorney General Alan Wilson, win going away.
His push for redistricting earlier this year collapsed, too, when Republican state senators broke against it. At one rally for Graham, he made the stakes plain, telling the crowd, “Please pretend I’m on the ballot,” a not-so-subtle plea to get his voters off the couch.
So Tuesday decides more than who faces Democrat Annie Andrews in November; it’s also a live test of whether a Trump endorsement still moves South Carolina, which makes this a lot bigger than your average Senate primary.
