Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) was declared the winner of yesterday’s Republican primary runoff after running a short campaign based largely on transphobia and who her brother was. Graham has received 52.5% of the vote in the runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) with 99% of the votes counted, and Norman delivered a concession speech late last night.
During her victory speech, Graham Nordone appeared proud of how her parents died when she was very young while denouncing how her opponent, pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews, supports a government-run public option for health care.
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“No one in South Carolina has pushed harder for the absolutely terrible idea of turning confused little boys into little girls and vice versa than Annie Andrews,” Graham Nordone said in her victory speech. “Gun control, government-run health care, abortion until the moment of birth – bad idea after bad idea. Annie Andrews backs them all.”
“I have a different background and vision for our state. I’m a hard worker with a servant’s heart,” she continued. “My parents worked long, hard hours to make it, make ends meet. We didn’t take vacation. If they were sick, they had to get up and go to work because if the doors weren’t open, we weren’t making money.”
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“My mother passed away when I was 11 and my father just over a year later.”
Lindsey Graham died in July, and the state’s Republican governor appointed Graham Nordone to serve out the rest of his term. Graham was already up for reelection in the fall, but a special primary had to be held after his death, since he had already won the June primary.
Graham Nordone announced her campaign several days after being appointed to her late brother’s seat and issued a video announcing her campaign that attacked trans people.
“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,” she said in the ad. “I’m Darline Graham. I approve this message, and I’m ready to serve.”
During a debate against Norman last week, Graham Nordone fumbled a question about Taiwan, saying she doesn’t know much about national security and noting that her late brother was in the Air Force. She later went on Fox News in an effort to respond to criticism of her lack of preparation and said that voters in South Carolina “are more worried about… boys in girls’ sports. One lady talked to me extensively about that today.” South Carolina already bans trans kids from participating in school sports with others of their gender.
Donald Trump backed Graham Nordone in the primary, even appearing at a rally for her last Friday in Myrtle Beach, where she repeated her attacks on trans kids. Trump claimed at the rally that he was now ordering hospitals to perform “reverse surgery” on transgender people.
Norman complained about Trump’s involvement in the primary in his concession speech last night, saying he didn’t know why the president got involved at all.
“I really hate it for the state. I don’t hate it for me…. I hate it for the state. But the public of South Carolina made the decision,” he said. “I never understood why [Trump] got in this race. … But it is, it is what it is, and I’ll accept it.”
NBC News notes that Norman was one of the few Republicans to endorse former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP presidential primary when she ran against Trump.
Norman himself is a far-right Republican and a member of the hardline Freedom Caucus. He introduced a rider to the fiscal year 2024 transportation and housing appropriations bill that would have banned the Biden administration from implementing a trans-inclusive nondiscrimination rule in community planning. That amendment ultimately failed.
He also introduced an amendment to the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act banning military insurance from covering gender-affirming care for transgender dependents of US military service members. That amendment passed.
Norman got consistently low scores on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard, showing his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights.
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