Representative Ralph Norman, a longtime lawmaker aligned with the hard-line conservative wing of his party, faces Darline Graham in a special Republican Senate primary runoff election to succeed Lindsey Graham, who died last month.
Here are five things to know about Mr. Norman, 73, a five-term congressman from the South Carolina suburbs of Charlotte, N.C.
1. He is running as the underdog — despite being the experienced politician in the race. President Trump has endorsed Ms. Graham, and Ms. Graham’s campaign and supporters have more than doubled Mr. Norman’s spending on commercials.
2. He lost a race for governor this year. Mr. Norman placed third in the Republican primary in June, behind Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Alan Wilson, the state’s attorney general. (Mr. Wilson later defeated Ms. Evette in a runoff.) Running for governor gave Mr. Norman statewide name recognition and made it easier to run in the compressed campaign that followed Mr. Graham’s death.
3. He endorsed Nikki Haley for president in 2024. Mr. Norman backed Ms. Haley, the former South Carolina governor, over Mr. Trump in the Republican presidential primary. Mr. Norman has described Ms. Haley as a friend and told Mr. Trump in advance that he would endorse one of his opponents. But supporting Ms. Haley may have cost Mr. Norman the president’s endorsement in both races he has entered in recent months.
4. He is the vice chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. Mr. Norman is perhaps best known for being a member of the ultraconservative group of House members that has opposed spending bills and staunchly supported Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown.
5. He backed Mr. Trump’s efforts to reject the results of the 2020 election. In a misspelled text in 2021, Mr. Norman asked the White House chief of staff to urge the president to invoke “Marshall law” to stop Joseph R. Biden Jr. from taking office days before his inauguration.
Michael Gold contributed reporting.
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