{"id":12553,"date":"2026-07-23T15:14:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatamericanewsdesk.com\/?p=12553"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:14:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:14:39","slug":"trumps-handpicked-graham-successor-draws-challenge-from-old-gop-nemesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatamericanewsdesk.com\/featured\/trumps-handpicked-graham-successor-draws-challenge-from-old-gop-nemesis\/njackson\/2026\/07\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Handpicked Graham Successor Draws Challenge From Old GOP Nemesis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mark Sanford is back \u2014 and once again running headlong into President Donald Trump\u2019s political machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former South Carolina governor and congressman announced Thursday that he is seeking the Senate seat previously held by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, joining a rapidly expanding Republican field despite Trump already throwing his support behind Graham\u2019s sister, Sen. Darline Graham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur country is at a financial tipping point, and I can\u2019t sit on the sidelines while Washington adds a trillion dollars to the debt every 100 days,\u201d Sanford wrote on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MarkSanford\/status\/2080310786027556980\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve spent my entire time in politics fighting this fight, and I\u2019m running for U.S. Senate to keep the American dream alive for our sons, my grandson, and those you love. Join us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-x\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our country is at a financial tipping point, and I can&#39;t sit on the sidelines while Washington adds a trillion dollars to the debt every 100 days. I&#39;ve spent my entire time in politics fighting this fight, and I&#39;m running for U.S. Senate to keep the American dream alive for our\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/q5ByORi0M3\">pic.twitter.com\/q5ByORi0M3<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Mark Sanford (@MarkSanford) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MarkSanford\/status\/2080310786027556980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 23, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanford\u2019s announcement included a video in which he reflected on Graham\u2019s death and described the loss as a reminder of \u201chow short and precious life is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy own dad got Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease when I was in high school, and this notion of all of us having just a little time has always hit me hard,\u201d Sanford said. \u201cWe\u2019re stewards of our lives and the things that we love for just a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The campaign gives Sanford another opportunity to revive his longtime crusade against federal spending \u2014 but it also places him squarely against Trump\u2019s preferred candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump announced last week that Darline Graham would receive his \u201cComplete and Total Endorsement\u201d if she entered the race, enthusiastically declaring: \u201cRUN, DARLINE, RUN!\u201d <strong>(RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/greatamericanewsdesk.com\/news\/trump-speaks-out-on-potential-lindsey-graham-replacement\/njackson\/2026\/07\/\">Trump Speaks Out On Potential Lindsey Graham Replacement<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham, who was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster to temporarily fill her brother\u2019s seat, confirmed during an interview with Sean Hannity that she would seek the full six-year term. Her appointment made her the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanford\u2019s entry creates an especially combustible matchup because he and Trump have already fought \u2014 and Trump won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanford repeatedly criticized Trump during his first administration, drawing the president\u2019s wrath while seeking another House term in 2018. Just hours before polls closed in that year\u2019s Republican primary, Trump endorsed Sanford\u2019s opponent, state Rep. Katie Arrington, and declared that Sanford had been \u201cvery unhelpful\u201d and was \u201cbetter off in Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The jab referenced Sanford\u2019s infamous 2009 disappearance while serving as governor. His staff initially said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but Sanford later acknowledged that he had traveled to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arrington narrowly defeated Sanford, handing him his first loss in a South Carolina election. Arrington had spent much of the campaign portraying Sanford as a \u201cNever Trumper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanford returned the challenge the following year by launching a long-shot campaign against Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination. That effort, which also focused heavily on the national debt, lasted roughly two months before Sanford pulled the plug after struggling to gain traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His latest campaign also represents a reversal from the position he took only months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanford briefly launched a campaign for his former House seat earlier this year but withdrew in April, <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews4.com\/news\/local\/its-an-american-problem-federal-debt-is-why-mark-sanford-dropped-his-bid-for-congress-why-did-mark-sanford-leave-congress-south-carolina-1st-congressional-district-local-news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">saying<\/a> \u201cthe most effective way I can contribute right now is not by seeking office.\u201d At the time, he said he planned to build a nonprofit and grassroots movement focused on the country\u2019s growing debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham\u2019s death, however, opened a rare statewide opportunity \u2014 and Sanford is now arguing that Washington\u2019s spending binge demands his return to elected office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 66-year-old served as South Carolina\u2019s governor from 2003 through 2011. He represented the state\u2019s 1st Congressional District from 1995 through 2001 and again from 2013 through 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanford joins a Republican field that already includes Graham, Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, businessman Mark Lynch and attorney Duke Buckner. Norman has secured support from several prominent conservatives, including Rep. Nancy Mace and former Sen. Jim DeMint, underscoring the resistance to Trump\u2019s effort to consolidate the party behind Graham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The compressed campaign leaves Sanford little time to rebuild his political organization or convince Republican voters to look past his long-running feud with Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Candidate filing closes July 28. The special Republican primary will be held Aug. 11, followed by an Aug. 25 runoff if no candidate receives a majority. The winner will advance to the Nov. 3 general election against Democrat nominee Annie Andrews, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/scvotes.gov\/u-s-senate-special-republican-party-filing-primary\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">South Carolina Election Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class= \"house-ad\"><center><p class= \"sponsored\">Sponsored<\/p><strong><span style=\" color:#ff0004\" class=\" has-inline-color has-text-align-center\"><a href= \"https:\/\/secure.winred.com\/coal-faith-freedom-coalition\/cffc-prsp-email-fraud-v2-s1-db?utm_term=%5Btrackingcode%5D&#038;source_code=%5Btrackingcode%5D&#038;utm_medium=emailrental&#038;utm_source=db&#038;utm_campaign=20260526_cffc_fraud&#038;utm_content=donate&#038;amount=26&#038;recurring=true\">Stand with President Trump against fraud, waste &#038; abuse \u2013 he can\u2019t beat the machine without YOU.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/center><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mark Sanford is back \u2014 and once again running headlong into President Donald Trump\u2019s political machine. The former South Carolina governor and congressman announced Thursday that he is seeking the Senate seat previously held by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, joining a rapidly expanding Republican field despite Trump already throwing his support behind Graham\u2019s sister, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,26,29],"tags":[2328,962,1116,2346,256,2337,176],"class_list":["post-12553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","category-politics","tag-2026-u-s-senate-election-in-south-carolina","tag-featured","tag-lindsey-graham","tag-mark-sanford","tag-politics","tag-russell-fry","tag-trump-endorsement"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump\u2019s Handpicked Graham Successor Draws Challenge From Old GOP Nemesis - Great America News Desk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greatamericanewsdesk.com\/featured\/trumps-handpicked-graham-successor-draws-challenge-from-old-gop-nemesis\/njackson\/2026\/07\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s Handpicked Graham Successor Draws Challenge From Old GOP Nemesis - Great America News Desk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark Sanford is back \u2014 and once again running headlong into President Donald Trump\u2019s political machine. 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