Darline Graham

Sen. Darline Graham and Democratic nominee Annie Andrews took their social media feud to the debate stage as they vie for an open Senate seat in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., and Democratic nominee Annie Andrews took their campaign trail sniping to the debate stage Sunday night, with each candidate arguing their case for the Senate seat in a race that has appeared to become unexpectedly close in the weeks ahead of the midterms.

The issues bounced from Iran to the economy and artificial intelligence, but all seemed to boil down to Graham and Andrews arguing over who was less qualified for the South Carolina Senate seat as they sparred for an hour in their only debate, three weeks ahead of the general election.

Lindsey Graham had been seeking his fifth Senate term when he died suddenly in July. Even though critics routinely criticized Graham for being too conciliatory to Democrats, he won the June primary and was favored to secure another term. Appointed to serve out the remainder of her late brother's current term, Darline Graham opted to join the crowded field for a special primary, in which she was endorsed by President Donald Trump — to whom her brother was closely aligned. She advanced to a runoff and won.

Now, with a different Graham on the ballot, the race has seemed to tighten, as Democrats hope to retake control of Congress while Trump's popularity remains low. Outside groups have poured millions of dollars into the race on Graham's behalf, which has been called an "insurance policy" for the Republican's victory.

Several times Sunday, Graham mentioned her support for the president, although not as stridently as she did during the special primary.

Andrews touched on the Trump-Graham nexus, saying she would stand up to the Democratic Party when she disagreed with pronouncements, something she said Graham, as “the White House’s ambassador to South Carolina,” would not do.

Darline Graham had worked in state government but had not been directly involved in politics, aside from supporting her brother during his decades in the U.S. House and Senate. After Andrews also took a swipe at Graham for angling to use her maiden name for political advantage, given her brother's years of service, the Republican said she had only used her husband's last name — Nordone — for a social media page, never on legal documents.

“My legal name is Graham, it has always been Graham,” the Republican said, adding that she kept the name to maintain a connection to her parents, both of whom died when she was young. “Thank you for bringing up a horrible, tragic memory for me."

On Iran, Andrews brought up Graham's flub from a Republican runoff debate, in which Graham struggled to answer a question on whether the U.S. has a national security interest in Taiwan and the South China Sea — a longstanding contention of both Democratic and Republican administrations — before admitting, "National security is not my thing."

“If your surgeon said that appendectomies aren’t really his thing, would you still hand him a scalpel? No,” Andrews said, calling Graham “unserious and unqualified.”

“Your thing apparently is not being honest with people of South Carolina. At least I’m honest. If I don’t know something, I am glad to say it, and I’ll say it again tonight," said Graham, whose brother was a renowned foreign policy hawk and met with leaders around the world. "You are deceiving the people of South Carolina. You have flip-flopped on everything."

A question over whether they use AI or support guardrails for it devolved into a squabble over Graham's qualifications for office. After Graham said she applauded Trump's creation of an AI task force, Andrews said Graham had been a good interim pick to replace her brother but "has shown time and time again that she is not up for the job" for a full six-year term.

Graham clapped back, “I'm just as qualified as you," to Andrews, who has not been elected to office before.

Libertarian candidate Kasie Whitener was also on the stage, but the primary back and forth was between Graham and Andrews. With three women vying for the seat, South Carolina is poised to elect its first woman to the U.S. Senate.

Two weeks of early voting in South Carolina starts Oct. 19.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

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