Darline Graham Ties With Democratic Challenger as She Struggles To Connect in Deep-Red Areas, Gold-Standard Poll Finds

Senator Darline Graham is now in a tossup race with her Democratic opponent, according to a new poll from the New York Times and Siena University, widely considered one of the best joint polling operations in the country. Ms. Graham’s biggest weak point appears to be the same once had by her brother — a lack of enthusiastic support from South Carolina’s hardline conservatives.Ms. Graham was appointed to fill her late brother’s Senate seat shortly after his death in July, and would go on to launch a campaign for a full six-year term after President Trump asked her to do so. In a snap special GOP Senate primary, Ms. Graham won the runoff by five points thanks to outside spending from Mr. Trump’s political operations and a visit to the state by the president himself. Ms. Graham struggled in one area of the state — the Upcountry in the northwest corner of South Carolina — where her brother also floundered in his own GOP primary contests even though Graham himself was a congressman from the area for nearly a decade. Ms. Graham’s primary opponent, Congressman Ralph Norman, won every county in the Upcountry. Now, that lack of support in the Upcountry and other conservative pockets of the Palmetto state appear to be costing her. Ms. Graham is running even with the Democratic candidate, Dr. Annie Andrews, with both women taking 48 percent of the vote. The most eye-popping result of the poll was the finding that Dr. Andrews is now leading Ms. Graham in parts of the deep-red Upcountry in the Greenville–Spartanburg area, in the northwesternmost part of the state. In that part of the state, Dr. Andrews is leading Ms. Graham by two points. The same Times–Siena poll finds the GOP candidate for governor, Alan Wilson, leading his opponent in the Greenville–Spartanburg region by 15 points. In the Lowcountry along the southeastern coast — where Dr. Andrews ran for Congress in 2022 — Dr. Andrews and Ms. Graham are tied, according to the poll. In the Charleston area, Dr. Andrews is also up by two points. “Whether you voted for Donald Trump, Lindsey Graham, or someone else, you deserve leaders who care more about lowering your bills than playing politics in Washington,” Dr. Andrews wrote in a post on X in response to the Times–Siena poll on Wednesday. “That’s what this campaign is about.”Even after announcing her candidacy with the backing of Mr. Trump, Ms. Graham has struggled at key moments. During a debate with Mr. Norman, she said she was not very “informed” on national security issues, and even after winning the primary, reported raising only about $1.5 million in the third quarter. Dr. Andrews raised $9.4 million in the same time period. Mr. Norman seemed to predict Ms. Graham’s looming problems during an interview with “The National Briefing with Kelly Nash” — a South Carolina radio show — earlier this month. Mr. Norman, a hardline Freedom Caucus member for nearly a decade, said even some of his own family members would not vote for Ms. Graham because she lacked the conservative credentials. Mr. Norman says he will not campaign with Ms. Graham even though, he says, her team has asked. “I just can’t take part in something like that,” he said of campaigning with her. “My family is not going to vote for Darline Graham. They’re just not,” he said. “They’re grown and with their own children can do what they want, but I will because I promised to do that.”Days later, one of Mr. Norman’s sons, Warren Norman, penned an op-ed in the outlet FITSNews to declare he would not vote for Ms. Graham. The title of the op-ed was, “Why This Lifelong Conservative Won’t Vote for Darline Graham.” The younger Mr. Norman decried the ugliness with which Ms. Graham and her team are now conducting themselves, much like how they treated his father, he argues.“Millions are being spent to tell voters what to fear. Far less has been said about what Senator Graham will actually do for South Carolina, or whether she’ll stand up to the people funding her campaign when it counts,” Mr. Norman wrote. He made a stunning admission in the piece, saying that, after personally speaking with Dr. Andrews, he believes he may vote for her. “As of today, I’m leaning her way. It will be the first time in my life I’ve voted for a Democrat in a partisan election,” he wrote. “I know the concern many conservatives will have: isn’t a vote against Graham a vote for the liberal agenda? I’ve thought hard about that. Unfortunately, there is no true conservative to vote for in this election.”

Darline Graham Ties With Democratic Challenger as She Struggles To Connect in Deep-Red Areas, Gold-Standard Poll Finds

Darline Graham Ties With Democratic Challenger as She Struggles To Connect in Deep-Red Areas, Gold-Standard Poll Finds

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