South Carolina Republicans Write In Norman to Defy Trump's Pick

Nearly 950,000 South Carolina voters have already cast early ballots, setting a record for a midterm election according to the state's Election Commission. This surge in participation is occurring in a state where polls show a tight race between the Republican and Democratic nominees.

A group of conservative voters is organizing to write in Congressman Ralph Norman for the U.S. Senate seat. They are skipping the official Republican nominee, Senator Darline Graham, who holds the endorsement of President Donald Trump. Avery Milton, a 28-year-old resident of Charleston, leads this effort. He stated that the president's actions during his second term made many younger conservatives feel betrayed.

Milton cited the war in Iran as a major reason for the split. Trump campaigned on a promise to avoid new wars. Milton said he and others want a senator who thinks independently rather than following party leadership. They view Norman as a candidate who will consider all sides of an issue.

Graham took office after the sudden death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, on July 11. She was appointed to fill the vacancy, becoming the first sibling to do so. Days after her appointment, Trump urged her to run for a full six-year term. She announced her candidacy on Fox News three days later. Graham defeated Norman in the August primary election.

The New York Times and Siena College poll found that 30 percent of likely voters in South Carolina identify as independents. Among that group, Democratic challenger Annie Andrews leads Graham by 20 percentage points. The same poll shows Graham and Andrews tied at 48 percent among all likely voters. In 2022, write-in votes made up only 0.1 percent of the total in the state's Senate race.

John Connolly, a 77-year-old retiree in the Lowcountry, described Graham as a puppet who nods yes when told. Leila Ali, a regional campaign adviser, noted that strategists often mistake the Southern vote for a single block. She argued that the diversity of the electorate is frequently underestimated by political parties. The November 3 election will decide the seat in a state that has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1998.