South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham has collected several key endorsements since announcing Monday she would run for the seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham.
But the political newcomer, who entered the race for a full six-year term at the urging of President Donald Trump, now faces a potentially fractious GOP primary on a truncated timeline.
Graham launched her campaign via a Fox News interview Monday night, a week after she was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster as placeholder to fill the remainder of her brother’s term through early January.
Her bid for a full term has already won the support of three members of Senate Republican leadership: Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming, Conference Chair Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
Yet even with Trump’s backing, Graham’s decision to run has not cleared the field as of Tuesday afternoon: Two Republican House members, Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, are running, as are businessman Mark Lynch, who took 29 percent in last month’s primary against Lindsey Graham, and attorney Duke Buckner.
