Trump lends support for Darline Graham in South Carolina as Republican anxiety rises in Senate race
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump was in South Carolina for the second time in a month Thursday, a sign of growing Republican anxiety about Darline Graham's ability to fend off a robust challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews for a critical U.S. Senate seat.
Voters in South Carolina have not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly three decades. But Andrews, a pediatrician who previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress, is urging voters seeking change to “try something new for once.”
That message could resonate in an election year that has come to be defined by voter frustration with the economy, gas prices and the war in Iran, putting Trump's Republican Party on defense in territory where they have rarely had to compete in recent years.
Beyond South Carolina, Republicans are entering the final days of this year's midterm elections navigating tight contests in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska. Both parties are also closely following developments in the Mississippi Senate race.
The president, returning to the White House, projected confidence about next week's election, saying, “We're going to have a strong Tuesday night.”
Trump was adjusting his schedule, converting what his team had planned as a rally in Kansas for GOP Sen. Roger Marshall to a tele-rally. The president also will participate in tele-rallies Thursday evening for candidates in Colorado and Montana, as part of a plan to have him hold nearly two dozen such remote events before Election Day, according to a person familiar with the operation who spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal plans and strategy.
The president's team was feeling more optimistic about Republican prospects and bullish on Kansas, where Democrat Adam Hamilton is waging a very competitive challenge to Marshall. The decision to switch to tele-rallies — where Trump tends to speak for 10 minutes instead of more than 90, as he does at in-person events — allows Trump to hit more areas as new data becomes available, the person said.
Asked whether the change was tied to an illness, Trump denied being sick and said he's not traveling to Kansas “because he's doing very well,” an apparent reference to Marshall.
“I don’t feel I have to go to Kansas,” Trump said, adding that he still plans to travel to Florida on Friday.
In South Carolina, Graham has struggled to quickly build connections with voters. The sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, she was appointed in July by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to fill the remaining months of her brother’s term after his sudden death. In August, she became the party’s nominee to succeed him for a full six-year term.
“He was a great politician,” Trump said of Lindsey Graham, before promoting Darline Graham as his elected successor. “She’s got the gene.”
Trump also acknowledged pressing her to run at a time other Republicans were seeking the seat.
“I got you into this thing, Darline,” Trump quipped.
Speaking before Trump, Darline Graham, who voted in Lexington after the event, commended the president for having “delivered what Washington promised for decades.” She warned that Andrews “would just throw it all away."
Andrews appeared in nearby Fort Mill on Wednesday, where she said that if voters elect her and become unhappy with her performance on Capitol Hill, “you can fire me in six years.”
Her success on Election Day will likely hinge on winning support from disaffected Republicans like Brent Chaplin. The 37-year-old who works in finance and accounting said he's a registered Republican, “but it's hard to be that right now.”
Chaplin said he voted for Andrews and encouraged voters to think beyond partisan politics.
“You just can't go and say I'm a Republican, I'm just going to vote Republican,” said Chaplin, who voted for Trump in 2016. “You've got to put some brainpower into it and think about it. So hopefully it is a message to the powers that be to wake up, pick better candidates.”
South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, who lost to Graham in the GOP Senate primary runoff, has criticized Graham as unqualified. Norman, who has refused to campaign with Graham, said the race is closer than it would have been had he been nominated.
Lonnie Dean Johnson of Sumter, South Carolina, supported Norman in the primary and was voting Graham out of party loyalty, albeit unenthusiastically.
“She’s on a Republican ticket. I, by and large, support the Republican platform," he said. "So, I support her and wish her well.”
Rhonda Billingsley was more charitable.
“She’s getting better. The more she speaks, she’s getting better with more experience,” said Billingsley of Pickens, South Carolina.
Trump spent part of his Thursday speech opining on contests in North Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Minnesota and Alaska.
He has been especially focused on Alaska after The New York Times reported Wednesday that the Democratic Senate candidate's campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting another candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. The state's Republican governor has ordered an investigation. The Justice Department escalated the investigation Thursday, issuing a raft of new grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The U.S. Justice Department also issued subpoenas to California officials in the latest effort to scrutinize local election administration. A federal judge in California earlier Thursday appointed a special master to evaluate claims by the Trump administration that the state has some 20,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls.
Trump called the development in Alaska a “conspiracy” and called for the Democrat in the race, Mary Peltola, to be removed from the ballot. He has cast doubt on whether Peltola would be seated in the Senate even if she won the election.
Peltola’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a message Thursday seeking comment on the governor's order. But during a campaign stop in Soldotna, Peltola, a former congresswoman, suggested the Times’ report was a “distraction” from issues such as Sen. Sullivan’s support of the war in Iran.
The revelation in Alaska was a reminder of the volatility of the midterm campaigns' final days as both parties make decisions about how to spend time and money with control of Congress on the line.
In Iowa, where Democrats are feeling optimistic about the governorship, nominee Rob Sand asked voters in a suburb of Des Moines to avoid feeling regret the day after the election by doing all they can before Nov. 3.
The message reflected years of day-after disappointment for Iowa Democrats, who have been locked out of the Iowa governor's mansion since 2010.
Sand told voters to expect a Republican Legislature and the sometimes difficult governing that can come with divided government, should he win.
“That means that the people on the far left and on the far right will both be a little bit disappointed,” he said.
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Sloan and Kinnard reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, Hannah Fingerhut in Clive, Iowa, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Michelle L. Price, Collin Binkley and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
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