HAIL MARY

Republicans Hit the Panic Button to Save Struggling Nepo Senator

Darline Graham could be the first Republican to lose a South Carolina senate race in decades.

Republicans are planning to pump millions of dollars into Sen. Darline Graham’s South Carolina Senate bid amid fears the GOP could lose another crucial midterm race in a red state.

Graham, a political novice who filled the seat vacated by her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, faces a tight race against a Democrat in a state Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024.

Polls have shown the race between Graham and Annie Andrews, who is massively outspending her GOP opponent, remains too close to call with the election just weeks away.

And the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP’s main super PAC supporting Senate candidates, will now inject $5 million into Graham’s campaign in a desperate attempt to prevent a shock result in the Nov. 3 election.

“It’s an insurance policy. We’re going to be there for Darline,” a Republican briefed on the plans told Axios.

South Carolina is one of the typically red states Democrats hope to flip in the midterms as they try to regain control of the upper chamber.

Last month, an InsiderAdvantage survey showed Graham had a slim 1-point lead over Andrews among likely voters (46 percent to 45 percent). The same month, Republican pollster Trafalgar Group also showed Graham narrowly ahead (43 percent to 42 percent).

A source told Axios that most of the $5 million toward Graham’s campaign will go toward TV ads to “remind voters that Andrews is a Democrat.”

Intense voter backlash to Trump’s turbulent second term could mean that Republican candidates in other key Senate races are also doomed in November.

This includes the GOP stronghold of Texas—where Donald Trump’s scandal-ridden candidate Ken Paxton is trailing Democrat James Talarico—as well as Kansas, Iowa and Alaska.

SEEING RED

Republicans Panic as Darline Graham Falls Into Close Race

Sarah Ewall-Wice

News of the campaign boost in South Carolina came after Republican groups have essentially given up trying to retain the Senate seat in the swing state of North Carolina, and will no longer air campaign ads there.

Polls show Trump-endorsed Michael Whatley, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is far behind North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, with the Democrat sometimes recording double-digit leads.

Graham’s South Carolina bid has also been dogged by criticism of her lack of experience and avoidance of the press and campaigning.

During a GOP primary debate ahead of the runoff election against Rep. Ralph Norman, Graham also made the embarrassing confession that she is “not that informed on national security.”

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“South Carolinians don’t know who Darline Graham is or what she believes—she avoids reporters, avoids voters, and lies about Annie rather than doing her job,” an Andrews spokesperson told Axios.

Trump attempted to give Graham’s campaign a boost Monday with a plea to voters in a Truth Social post that included a vile slur against her Democratic opponent and a vain boast about himself.

“Annie ‘Trannie’ Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina,” the 80-year-old president wrote.

“For years my dear friend Lindsey would say that, ‘Darline is the finest, most reliable, and one of the smartest people I have ever known.’ He would then always add, ‘Also, the most loyal!’ Oftentimes I would be upset with Lindsey for saying this, because I thought I had all of those qualities.”

Andrews is not transgender, but Republicans have made her support for transgender people a central line of attack.

The Daily Beast has contacted Darline Graham’s office and the Senate Leadership Fund for comment.

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