Darline Graham Embraces Anti-Trans Attacks in Senate Bid
The late Lindsey Graham’s sister is leaning into Trump’s culture-war agenda as she seeks a full six-year term in South Carolina.
U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, has embraced anti-transgender messaging as she seeks a full six-year term after being appointed to her brother’s seat at President Trump’s urging.
Graham, who faces nine challengers, including U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry and former U.S. Rep. and Gov. Mark Sanford, recently released a 30-second ad introducing herself to voters and highlighting several issues popular with Trump and the Republican base, including abortion and opposition to transgender athletes.
“I’m honored to serve South Carolina and grateful for President Trump’s endorsement, and I’ll work hard every day to earn it,” Graham says in the ad. “I’m a conservative Republican, and I believe this: every life is precious. Men don’t belong in women’s sports, and only American citizens should vote in our elections.”
Graham was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to fill her brother’s U.S. Senate seat two days after his death. Having never held elective office, however, she remains unfamiliar to many South Carolina voters ahead of the August 11 Republican special primary.
She has sought to tie herself closely to Trump and appears to be leaning heavily into messages aimed at energizing the Republican Party’s most far-right voters.
During a debate featuring the five leading candidates for the GOP nomination, Graham touted her support for the SAVE America Act, a Republican-backed bill that would restrict mail-in balloting and impose stricter identification requirements based on conservative claims of election fraud that tend to surface whenever their party doesn’t fare well.
Graham also expressed support for eliminating the Senate filibuster to pass the bill, arguing that Democrats would likely abolish it if they regained control of the chamber.
She reiterated her position on X, writing: “If the filibuster is the only thing standing in the way of passing the SAVE America Act, then I’m a YES vote to end it. There’s too much at stake.”
Graham then linked the SAVE America Act to an unrelated attack on transgender people, writing: “Democrats refuse to protect our elections or our children from the transgender agenda.”
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