The South Carolina Republican race to replace the late Lindsey Graham as the GOP Senate nominee culminated into an hour of campaign ideas and political jabs at Tuesday night's debate between the final two candidates standing.
Just one day before early voting began in the runoff race, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman debated one-on-one at the Newberry Opera House. The theater crowd — somewhat evenly split in its support of the candidates — exchanged audible praise and jeers throughout the event's runtime.
With one week until election night, the candidates had an opportunity to reach undecided voters in the debate broadcast by South Carolina ETV and Newsmax.
Candidates have worked on an expedited election timeline after the death of Lindsey Graham, who died from an aortic dissection July 11. Graham had won the initial June 9 primary election with about 57% of the vote, and so his death triggered a special election to see which Republican would face Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews in the Nov. 3 General Election.
Ten candidates were on the Aug. 11 special election ballot. Darline Graham received 33% of the vote and Norman garnered about 24%, which sent the pair to a runoff election in the race to succeed the late senator whom had spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Senate.
GOP voters will be able to select either Graham, who Gov. Henry McMaster appointed to finish out her brother's Senate term and formerly led the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, or Norman, who represents South Carolina's 5th Congressional District and is part of the House Freedom Caucus.
The three-person panel asked questions that ranged from national security to artificial intelligence regulations.
The two agreed in general on most topics, but differed in:
- Methods toward supporting healthcare access, changing Social Security
- Insight on national security, foreign relations
- Political experience and list of endorsements
Opening remarks and first impressions
The night began with general opening remarks from the candidates that served as 90-second campaign synopses.
Norman branded himself as "the most conservative member" of Congress. He immediately made note of Graham's lack of experience in large-scale politics but said despite the nature of debate, the "real battle" was not with other Republicans.
"Our differences and who we're fighting are the socialist Democrats and the RINOs that go along with it," he said.
Graham began by touting the top of her endorsement list. She thanked President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Russell Fry for their trust in her abilities. Fry placed third in the special primary election, and although he and Graham had quarreled during the election cycle, he endorsed her a few days following the election.
Fry had won eight counties across the Pee Dee and Grand Strand.
Graham then listed off general policies she supported, such as an anti-abortion stance and support for the Second Amendment.
Overall agreements, differing methods
The pair agreed on overarching topics throughout the night: the need to cut fraud, support for Israel and overwhelming support for the president.
The methods to reach their goals, however, differed.
When asked about healthcare access for South Carolinians, Graham said she would support expanded funding for rural hospitals. Norman wanted to see more of a competitive market in which patients pick and better understand healthcare policies.
On potential cuts to Social Security, Norman said the country cannot rely on the system as-is and wanted to see a model that would let Americans spend more of their own money, although he did not delve into feasible specifics. Graham referred to her own reliance on Social Security in her youth and said there was a further need for programs to assist in finding people work, which she hoped would in turn lessen the need for the government assistance.
Both candidates supported Trump's actions in the war in Iran.
The panel asked multiple questions regarding AI; data centers, AI regulations and economic impact of economic impact of AI were all tackled.
Both supported overall regulations. Norman admitted widespread policies would be tough to implement and compared the process to regulating the internet.
"You try to regulate what you can and find out what you can so that it's used in a good way instead of hurting American children and Americans in general," he said.
Graham said she supported federal bans regarding the technology but did not note exactly what bans would be appropriate.
"It's a scary situation," she said. "I'm personally very scared of AI."
Still, when it came to data centers needed to help power AI demands, Graham said the centers were needed with community guardrails.
Multiple municipalities throughout the state have enacted or discussed moratoriums on new data center constructions. Colleton County and Fairfield County have passed moratoriums of differing lengths, while Spartanburg County and Orangeburg County have considered similar motions.
And in dealing with the concern of AI cutting down the number of human-held jobs, Graham said her preferred solution was to expand the quantity of jobs in the country, while Norman said he wanted to empower technical schools.
Candidates both saw China as a threat to the nation. But when asked about ongoing tensions between China and Taiwan at the South China Sea, Graham asked for the question to be read again. She then said national security was not her area of expertise, but she wholeheartedly supported the military. Norman said Taiwan was a definite ally to the United States that he believed Trump had helped protect.
In a conference with reporters after the debate, Graham said South Carolinians are "worried about their pocketbooks more than they're worried about the South China Sea."
As the night went on, candidates began to take more rebuttal opportunities, which eventually turned into hearing rebuts to a rebuttal.
Norman continually brought Graham's lack of experience into the conversation throughout the night.
She rallied back with questions about his effectiveness in office.
The election looms
Early voting in the runoff election will run from Wednesday to Friday — with polls open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Anyone who voted in the Republican primary election or did not vote at all is eligible to participate, while South Carolinians who voted in the Democratic primary cannot cast a ballot.
The election is Aug. 25, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
