Graham, Norman tangle in South Carolina GOP Senate debate: Three takeaways
The Hill · C · trust 43/100
Comments: by Max Rego - 08/18/26 9:10 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 08/18/26 9:10 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) faced off on the debate stage Tuesday, a day before early voting begins in the runoff to determine which of the two will be South Carolina’s GOP nominee for Senate.
Graham, whom South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appointed to succeed to her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), and Norman advanced to a runoff by finishing in the top two in last week’s primary.
Both candidates spent much of the hour-long debate , hosted by South Carolina ETV and Public Radio attacking Democrats — with the winner of the runoff set to face off against Democrat Annie Andrews in November. But the two also traded barbs, with Norman specifically pointing out Darline Graham’s lack of experience in elected office.
Here are three takeaways from the evening.
While Darline Graham and Norman are facing off against each other in the runoff, both took turns criticizing congressional Democrats on Tuesday.
“My differences aren’t... with Darline or really any of the Republicans. Our differences and who we’re fighting are the socialist Democrats and the RINOs that go along with it,” Norman said in his opening statements, referring to “Republicans in name only.”
The five-term representative later criticized his Democratic colleagues for not supporting government funding measures during President Trump’s time in office, saying Democrats are “for total disarmament.”
Darline Graham also took aim at progressive Democrats’ signature policy proposal: Medicare for All. The single-payer healthcare system, she said, would “bankrupt our country” if implemented.
But the two took the gloves off with respect to each other at other points. In his opening statement, Norman jabbed at Darline Graham for her lack of governing experience — she previously led the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and worked for the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation Department.
“We have an unknown candidate who I am running against,” Norman remarked. The conservative lawmaker.
Darline Graham, meanwhile, went after her opponent for initially holding out in supporting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law in July 2025.
“It’s kind of ironic when you talk about the Big Beautiful Bill because it’s my understanding that you were the holdout on the Big Beautiful Bill, and Trump had to call you in and convince you to sign it,” Darline Graham said to Norman, an attack line he dismissed as “fake.”
Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, voted in favor of the sweeping budget measure while raising concerns about the national debt.
Near the end of the debate, the two ramped it up again. Norman claimed Darline Graham was the preferred candidate of Democrats, while the latter took aim at the congressman’s accomplishments while in office.
“I’ve done more in 20 days than you have done in 20 years,” Darline Graham quipped to Norman. “I did a lot of research to try to find out exactly what you have done. You named a post office, so good job.”
Prior to joining the House in 2017, Norman spent more than seven years in the state House.
While The Post and Courier’s Nick Reynolds reported that both campaigns received 20 free tickets for the debate, the crowd appeared to lean towards Norman throughout the hour.
Norman received louder applause for his answers, while Darline Graham received cheers from a corner of the balcony for her response to a question on healthcare, Reynolds wrote on social media.
Darline Graham received muted support for her attacks on Norman, including later in the debate when she told him “I’d rather be out in South Carolina meeting the voters than here on this stage with you.”
Perhaps the loudest cheer of the night in support of Darline Graham came after she blasted Norman for his stated reasoning for seeking office.
“I think you’re confused, because I don’t know if you want to be in South Carolina or Washington. Because you said you wanted to go to Washington to clean up the swamp, then you wanted to come back to South Carolina to run for governor, now you want to go back to Washington again to clean up the swamp,” Darline Graham remarked, referring to Norman’s failed gubernatorial bid earlier this year.
“So what is it you want to do?”
Since taking office on July 14, Darline Graham has insisted she will focus more on domestic issues than foreign affairs — a contrast with her brother, a longtime advocate for America imposing its influence abroad.
That difference reared its head in the form of the senator’s response — or lack thereof — to a question from moderator Greta Van Susteren on the importance of Taiwan and the South China Sea to national security.
“I’m just going to be honest here. ... I’m not that informed on national security,” she said, before pausing due to a murmur from the crowd. “But I do support the military.”
More broadly, Darline Graham elected to back Trump’s approach on foreign policy, calling him the “strongest president we’ve had” against China and echoing his rhetoric on the Iran war by arguing the U.S. “cannot let” the Islamic Republic develop a nuclear weapon.
Both candidates postured as China hawks during the debate, with Darline Graham backing a federal ban on Chinese investors buying American farmland and Norman saying TikTok is “still controlled” by China.
“We would never be able to have a TikTok into China as they’re into our country,” the congressman argued.
On AI, Darline Graham said China…
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