President Donald Trump returns to South Carolina on Thursday, as Republicans grow increasingly concerned that Sen. Darline Graham’s once-safe seat could slip away from them.
“It’s a complete disaster train,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Wednesday of the race. “It’s a mess.”
Mace told MS NOW that in public and private polls, Graham is up in some surveys and down in others, sparking concern among South Carolina Republicans.
“It’s not good,” she said.
A South Carolina GOP official who had also seen private polling on the race sounded a similar note, telling MS NOW that the election is “closer than where it should be.”
The Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the race without provoking reaction from the party, said the amount of capital Republicans are allocating to South Carolina — both in dollars and presidential time — is shocking.
“The fact that we have to dedicate time and resources to South Carolina is incredible,” the official said.
“It took a long time for the president to travel to many different states, including ours,” the Republican official added. “And a lot of that is arguably avoidable, or was avoidable.”
Trump is expected to visit South Carolina for the second time in the past two weeks – his third visit in three months – as Graham’s campaign faces a series of recent bad breaks.
On Wednesday, a New York Times/University of Siena poll reported that Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews were tied at 48 percent. On Monday, South Carolina’s former governors — one Democrat and one Republican — jointly endorsed Andrews. And on Friday, the son of South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman wrote an op-ed saying he couldn’t vote for Graham.
“There is no true conservative to vote for in this election,” Norman’s son Warren wrote.
(Norman lost to Graham in the August primary, but he won the region where Trump is traveling – Rock Hill, South Carolina, Norman’s hometown – by 28 points.)
The Republicans’ grim tally comes just five days before Election Day, as South Carolina’s Senate seat — and the party’s overall control of the Senate — hangs in the balance.
The ruby-red Palmetto State hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1998, but polls show this year could be the one to end that streak.
As Trump arrives in the state, some Republicans see the visit as a double-edged sword.
On one hand, Republicans argue that Trump has an innate ability to mobilize his base, a bloc of voters that is crucial to Graham’s winning coalition.
“He’s going to have to drag her to the finish line,” Mace said of Trump. “If MAGA doesn’t show up to vote on Tuesday, she loses.”
But on the other hand, Republicans warn that some voters could be turned off by Trump’s heavy involvement in the race. The president encouraged South Carolina Governor H.R. McMaster to appoint Graham to finish his brother’s term. He also urged Graham to enter the race for the full six-year term. And once she did, the president approved it.
“He’s trying to force-feed the candidate her victory to the people of South Carolina,” Norman said.
Mace used an even more striking metaphor. “It’s been forced on them,” she said, “and they don’t like it.” »
That sentiment feeds into a broader concern among voters that Graham is only on the list because of his last name, a whisper that has grown louder and louder throughout his three-month crash course in elected politics.
“They don’t believe in nepotism,” Mace said.
Of course, many Republicans insist that Graham is in good shape. A South Carolina Republican Party strategist, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the race, said Trump’s visit would help his campaign.
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Syedah Asghar
Syedah Asghar is a Congressional Producer for MS NOW, responsible for news coverage of the House. She previously covered Congress and elections for NBC News. Syedah, a Georgia native, is a graduate of American University, where she studied journalism.
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