Republican operatives are gearing up to deploy an “insurance policy” in a “blood-red” state as a GOP Senate candidate hand-picked by President Donald Trump struggles in the polls, Axios exclusively reported Tuesday morning.
That insurance policy is a fresh injection of $5 million into South Carolina — where Democrats haven’t won a statewide election in two decades — to back Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), who was appointed to succeed her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and later scored Trump’s endorsement.
“It’s an insurance policy. We’re going to be there for Darline,” a Republican briefed on the spending plans told Axios, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Recent polls show Graham “essentially tied” with her Democratic opponent, Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who initially launched her Senate bid to oust Lindsey Graham. That Graham was statistically tied with her Democratic opponent in a state that has been dominated by Republicans for well over a decade illustrated “just how bad the political environment is for Republicans,” Axios noted, as rising costs sparked by Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran continue to ravage the nation.
“We’re not taking anything for granted. We won’t be caught flat-footed in any of these races,” the source told Axios, adding that the $5 million would mainly be spent on TV ads to “remind voters that Andrews is a Democrat.”
Graham, who dropped her married name in her campaign to embrace her well-known surname, suffered a notable debate gaffe after admitting that national security wasn’t her “thing,” telling voters that she wasn’t “that informed on national security.”
A number of Republicans have expressed fears that Graham lacked enthusiastic support, with one Republican operative with “experience” in South Carolina giving Graham a particularly harsh critique.
“You’re running a campaign with a virtual unknown that took on all of her brother’s unfavorables without any of the goodwill that her brother has in a very short-sprint special election,” the operative previously told The Washington Sun.
“Her only good is hyper-engaged Trump voters. There is no Darline Graham voter. No one’s voting for Darline because of Darline.”
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