Sen. Darline Graham isn't treating her late brother's Senate seat as a short-term assignment after all. The South Carolina Republican, appointed last week to succeed Sen. Lindsey Graham, said in a Fox News interview Monday that she has decided to run for the seat in the special GOP primary. "I'm in," she told host Sean Hannity, who noted that she would have to file to run before her brother's funeral has taken place.
- Graham said she felt an "inner peace" about the decision. "I have been praying a lot, talking to my family. But with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I'm a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey," she said.
Her appointment was initially viewed as a stopgap move that would end in January, but President Trump declared Friday that he would back her if she jumped into the race, adding, "RUN, DARLINE, RUN!" The special election primary is set for Aug. 11, with the candidate filing period opening Tuesday and closing a week later. Graham will face a Republican field that already includes Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, Politico reports.
Under federal rules, only $2,000 of the millions in Lindsey Graham's campaign account can be transferred to his sister's campaign, Bradley A. Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, tells the AP. He adds, however, that thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which can receive an unlimited amount from the late senator's campaign, can "spend an unlimited amount in coordination with Darline's campaign."
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