Darline Graham’s win in South Carolina shows Trump’s endorsement still matters

U nder normal circumstances, Senator Darline Graham should not have won the Republican primary to replace her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. But then President Donald Trump stepped in.

Graham scored a clear win in South Carolina Tuesday night. With 99 per cent of the vote counted, Graham had 52.5 percent of the vote over Representative Ralph Norman with 47.6 percent, according to The Associated Press.

Her political fortunes had looked rocky ahead of Tuesday’s runoff during a debate with Norman, when she was asked about the South China Sea and Taiwan . Her late brother — a China and Russia hawk who had visited Ukraine shortly before his sudden death last month — would have argued that defending them was vital to American interests.

Instead, his little sister said simply: “I’m not that informed on national security.”

The gaffe was also a black eye for Trump, who had passed over a surefire candidate to endorse Graham as her brother's successor — first to finish out Lindsey Graham's term, then to serve a full term of her own .

MAGA Inc., the super PAC affiliated with Trump, poured money into the primary, and the president traveled to Myrtle Beach to campaign with Graham last Friday.

Trump has been particularly sensitive about his endorsement track record as of late. Earlier this week, he pushed back against the idea that he had lost his winning touch .

“My Endorsements are stronger than ever — Not to mention the fact that good people are getting elected who never had the chance!” he insisted on Truth Social.

In the past, the nod from Trump used to be a lock. His endorsements of Ron DeSantis in Florida and Brian Kemp in Georgia catapulted them to become governors of their states in the 2018 midterms.

In 2022, JD Vance was languishing behind other Republican candidates for Senate before Trump gave his imprimatur, which set Vance on the course to be Ohio’s senator and ultimately, Trump’s vice president.

That same year, he endorsed TV doctor Mehmet Oz, helping him become the Republican nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania. Trump cleared the field in the 2022 Georgia Senate race for Herschel Walker, and in Arizona, he backed Blake Masters for Senate.

But the last three fell flat. More recently, Trump’s endorsement has failed to do the trick elsewhere.

In Georgia, he backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to succeed Kemp as governor, only for him to lose to Rick Jackson. He offered a last-minute endorsement to Rep. Randy Feenstra in Iowa in the primary for governor. But Feenstra lost to Zach Lahn.

Earlier this year in South Carolina, he endorsed Lt. Gov Pamela Evette to be governor. But Trump would then double-endorse Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson before the runoff to save face.