By admin 
Glenda Brady, a Spartanburg County resident, hoped a forum where each Republican U.S. Senate runoff candidate spoke to voters about their platform in Greenville on Monday would give her an answer on who she should support.
Read more Spartanburg man sentenced to four life terms for 2020 home invasion killings
She left still unsure who to vote for. Brady, who described herself as very tuned in to politics, said she wants someone in the Senate who will do what they say they will do.
“The abortion issue is important,” Brady said Monday. “The military is important. The border is important. And they’ve all made comments about that. But what are they really going to do?”
Who to support is a challenge facing many Republican voters in South Carolina in a special U.S. Senate primary runoff triggered by the sudden death of Lindsey Graham.
The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews and be favored to win the six-year term.
It’s also a struggle for the two remaining candidates, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, who have had just a few weeks to shore up support and differentiate themselves in a statewide federal election.
Both Graham and Norman are touring the state speaking to voters and appearing on TV ads. Graham will campaign with President Donald Trump in Myrtle Beach days before the election, a battleground region of the state neither runoff candidate won in the initial primary.
And Norman’s U.S. Senate campaign comes on the heels of his failed statewide bid for governor, where the congressman spent months reaching voters and getting out his message. He has also represented the 5th Congressional District since 2017 and served in the state House earlier.
“Both candidates have reasons to feel optimistic heading into the closing days of the race,” said Republican consultant Rob Godfrey in a text to the state. Godfrey is not working for either campaign.
“Sen. Graham has the president coming in to rally voters in a critical part of the state on her behalf … and Congressman Norman has real enthusiasm among grassroots activists he motivated during the governor’s race and who are excited to have the chance to propel him to the U.S. Senate,” he continued.
But they also face different challenges. Graham, a political newcomer, doesn’t have a lawmaking track record to campaign on, and she doesn’t have the same experience speaking to crowds or potential voters.
Norman’s candidacy is being criticized by millions of dollars worth of political advertisements, and the president isn’t behind his campaign. He also isn’t an incumbent, a title Graham technically has and her brother with the same last name held for nearly 24 years, said Shannon Bridgmon, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina.
Graham rose rapidly from leading a relatively obscure state agency to the U.S. Senate in July after the sudden death of her brother, a longtime senator. She was largely unknown to the public before her brother died and Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to finish the roughly five months left of Lindsey Graham’s term.
Even after her appointment, many didn’t think she would run for a full, six-year term. But by the end of that week, Trump endorsed her candidacy.
Graham said mourning her brother, learning the U.S. Senate and campaigning has been “brutal.” So why do it? She told reporters Monday Trump urged her to run for the Republican nomination.
The appointed senator inherited many members of her brother’s staff and the wealthy political groups supporting him. She has seen millions of dollars in support, and a national Republican Party has spent on advertisements in direct coordination with her campaign.
Graham also has been endorsed by some of the largest names in South Carolina politics, including U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state House Speaker Murrell Smith.
U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who finished third in the primary, also endorsed Graham.
Gov. Henry McMaster and Attorney General Alan Wilson haven’t endorsed either candidate at this point.
Still, Graham has struggled to overcome her lack of political experience. During a debate Tuesday, Graham struggled to answer a question about Taiwan and the South China Sea. It was her first televised debate in front of a live audience.
“I’m not that informed on national security,” Graham said in a now viral moment from the debate.
She doesn’t have a political record to campaign on. Graham only served in the Senate for a few weeks before the chamber took its August recess, though her campaign has tried to capitalize on her work there. Graham has flexed her decision to co-sponsor a Trump-pushed voter ID bill and introduction of a sanctions bill targeting Russia and Iran.
Read more FBI stops former Rep. Eric Swalwell at SFO to seize his cellphone, laptop
Graham has also characterized her lack of political experience as a benefit to the campaign. She often tells potential voters she understands affordability challenges after growing up without a lot of money and at some points working paycheck to paycheck. The appointed senator has also drawn a comparison between herself and Trump, who has loomed large in her campaign.
“Some critics have said I can’t run because I’m not a politician,” Graham said in Anderson County Monday. “You know what I say? Guilty as charged. I’m not a politician, but you know who else wasn’t a politician? Donald Trump.”
Chase Meyer, a political science professor at University of South Carolina, said Graham will have to do whatever it takes to prove her conservative credentials without a voting record. The endorsement from Trump could help, but support from a bona fide South Carolina Republican, like McMaster or Wilson, could also go a long way, he said.
“While you certainly have Darline Graham saying that she’s going to be a conservative vote in the Senate, she’s an unproven vote,” Meyer said. “Norman has a history and voting record that you can look at and say, ‘okay, we trust he’s going to keep voting the same way.’”
Norman has touted his own experience on the campaign trail, often repeating “my resume is my record.”
“I’ve got a proven record, folks,” Norman said on the Tuesday debate stage. “You can look me up. For eight years, I’ve been in Congress. I’m the most conservative member. You know how I’m going to vote.”
For some voters attending a Republican political event in Anderson on Monday, Norman would be the one they could trust to push more conservative policies.
“Darline is, as a person, I find her likable,” said Sharon Wilkie, a voter in Anderson County who supports Norman. “But I don’t know enough about her, and I don’t know how she’ll vote. And especially now that she’s getting all this PAC money, is she going to be bought out? We’ve got a seat there, and we need it to be strong conservative.”
Norman also ran for governor for several months earlier this year, so many Republican voters across the state were already be familiar with his name and platform before the special primary this month.
Reaching voters
The runoff Tuesday will be the fourth statewide Republican Party election this summer, and turning out supporters for a special runoff will be essential for any candidates’ success, Bridgmon said.
Typically, the most ideological voters are the ones who vote in primaries, political scientists said. Meyer said that could help Norman, who is seen as more conservative, but Bridgmon said many people still back Trump and could end up supporting Graham.
“This isn’t even a runoff for the normal primary,” Bridgmon said. “This is a runoff for a special election and so only the most motivated partisans are going to show up. And right now, the party still belongs to Donald Trump. So for those people that show up, I think it’s going to really matter.”
While Trump’s endorsement led to a win for Evette in the governor primary earlier this summer, the president has done more for Graham, Bridgmon said. He will campaign with Graham in Myrtle Beach on Friday evening. The Friday evening before the Republican runoff in June, Trump coendorsed Evette and Wilson.
The rally for Graham is being held in a large venue in Myrtle Beach, a battleground region for Graham and Norman. It could help turn out voters and shows Trump is behind Graham, political scientists said.
Norman said he asked for Trump’s endorsement ahead of the primary.
“I called him ahead of time, and he didn’t choose me,” Norman told reporters Wednesday evening. “That’s fine. As president, he’s got that prerogative.”
Both Graham and Norman also have the resources to advertise on TV and reach voters virtually. Both candidates, or the super PACs supporting them, have purchased broadcast time, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Super PACs have spent millions opposing Norman or supporting Graham in advertisements, according to news releases and federal campaign finance reports. Norman is also running advertisements boosting his own candidacy, and the congressman has loaned his campaign more than $2 million.
Norman has criticized the sources of Graham’s support, including a large donation from a U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski-backed PAC and the political action committees criticizing him.
“It was shocking that when you look at where I’m funding the campaign, a lot of it’s my own money, but it’s from South Carolinians,” Norman said Wednesday. “Her funding is from Washington D.C.”
“I don’t control the PAC ads,” Graham told reporters Tuesday.
Candidates are also meeting with voters all over the state in the final days of the campaign. Norman told reporters he would be “as many places as we can.”
Read more After recent visit to Haiti, congressman wants TPS for Haitians restored
The runoff election is Aug. 25 and early voting ends Friday.