Several deep-pocketed groups are running ads in South Carolina to help Sen. Darline Graham’s bid to fill her late brother’s seat for a full six-year term.
Her run against Rep. Ralph Norman in a GOP runoff election Tuesday is getting a boost from the pro-green energy Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC.
She also benefits from ad spending by two political action committees linked to her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham: the pro-national defense Security is Strength PAC and Palmetto Action.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the main Republican Senate campaign arm, is chipping in with paid digital ads to define the political stances of Ms. Graham, who is a political newcomer.
A new digital ad paid for by NRSC features Ms. Graham saying of transgender athletes, “Girls’ sports are for girls, and I’ll fight every day to keep it that way.”
Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC, which seeks to punish members of Congress for voting against green energy subsidies and tax credits, has a new TV spot accusing Mr. Norman of disloyalty to President Trump and calling on South Carolinians to “vote for Darline Graham” in the runoff.
“Ralph Norman betrayed President Trump by endorsing against him in 2024,” a new ad says, referencing Mr. Norman’s endorsement of Nikki Haley, a longtime friend, in the Republican presidential primary.
“Ralph Norman is a MAGA traitor. He doesn’t stand with Trump or with South Carolina,” it adds.
Norman campaign spokesperson Brittany Yanick told The Times: “When California Democrats who backed Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign and the establishment team up against a candidate like Ralph Norman, folks quickly realize who the proven conservative in the race is. Ralph’s record speaks for itself.”
Mr. Trump is backing Ms. Graham in the race and plans to campaign with her on Friday.
The winner of the South Carolina runoff election will likely win the general election in the solidly Republican state.
Invest in Tomorrow Coalition also spent money opposing the campaigns of two other House Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Ogles of Tennessee, both of whom lost in Republican primaries.
The PAC does not mention energy policy in its ads.
“We are not so much interested in Darline Graham’s politics as we are Ralph Norman’s,” Tom Matzzie, the PAC’s chairman, told The Washington Times. “Ralph Norman decided to prioritize political grandstanding over investing in American jobs and domestic energy production, and so his career will end the same way Andy Ogles’ and Chip Roy’s did.”
He said the ITC’s “mission is not partisan” and that it tries to “ensure accountability for politicians who play games with American energy independence.”
The group previously announced it intended to spend $1 million to oppose Mr. Norman in the race, saying he “was among the loudest voices pushing Republican leadership to end clean energy tax credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
ITC’s top funder is Chris Larsen, a San Francisco tech investor and political donor who gives almost exclusively to Democratic groups and candidates.
Mr. Norman has the support of the Freedom Caucus Fund, which battled ITC in the primaries of Mr. Ogles and Mr. Roy.
The FCF blasted ITC on social media for being “funded by a San Francisco liberal who gave Kamala $12 million.”
The Freedom Caucus group added that Mr. Matzzie “wants to bring back the Green New Scam, spending trillions of taxpayer dollars on windmills and solar panels, which of course would line his pockets. He knows Ralph Norman won’t vote for it, but [Darline] probably will.”
The Times reached out to both campaigns for comment.
