By admin 
President Donald Trump is scheduled Wednesday evening to hold a rally in Pendleton in support of U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.
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3:30 p.m.: Doors are open at the T. Ed Garrison Arena in Pendleton, and members of the public have been lining up for at least several hours.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks at 7 p.m., and pre-program remarks will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Attendees were greeted by several booths selling Trump T-shirts, coins and hats. Many attendees wore classic red “Make America Great Again” hats, T-shirts with slogans and photos of the president and American flag wear.
It’s the first political rally Caroline Stabene, a student living in Clemson, has attended. She showed up to see the president speak and support Graham, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.
“I think she knows what she’s talking about, and I think she comes from a good background,” Stabene said.
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Trump’s visit to the Upstate comes as polls indicate the race between Graham and Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews could be close.
The president is looking to rally support for Graham, who decided to run for the full six-year term after she was appointed to finish her late brother’s term.
A Trafalgar Group poll had Graham leading Andrews by just 3 percentage points. The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. Graham had 48.6% in the poll. Andrews had 45.6%
However, in a state that has straight-party ticket voting, Attorney General Alan Wilson has a larger lead on his Democratic opponent in the governor’s race than Graham does on Andrews. A poll conducted in the same time period had Wilson leading state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, the Democratic nominee for governor by 16 points, 52.5% to 36.5%.
The Upstate is considered a Republican stronghold in the state. However, support for Graham was weakest in counties there during the Republican special primary and subsequent runoff in August. Norman carried several Upstate counties in the runoff, including in Pickens County where the rally was held Wednesday. Some social media users have been vocal about writing in U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman for U.S. Senate. Norman finished second in the special Republican primary but fell to Graham by five percentage points in the runoff.
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