Sis Wins!

 So it seems that Lindsey Graham's little sister, Darlene, has won the special run-off election here in S. Carolina and will run...and most likely win...the November election to fill the seat come January, barring some wild error on her part.  She had secured the endorsements of both the sitting and outgoing governor, Henry McMaster, and Donald Trump.  So her win goes to the win column for Trump-endorsed candidates, which is still greatly favorable to his influence in that regard.  That's cool, but doesn't affect my own choices in the slightest.  It's nice to know when his picks align with mine, but never has any bearing on my choices in the slightest.

I find it a bit curious in a state considered red and thus conservative, that she would win over someone with a far better conservative ranking than her brother had.  I don't believe, from what I've gleaned thus far about her, that Darlene is even as conservative as Lindsey was.  Both Russel Fry, who didn't make the cut for the run-off Darlene just won, and Ralph Norman, who she defeated in the run-off, ranked in the mid to upper 90s in conservative ranking systems, like the American Conservative Union and Conservative Review's Liberty Score.  Graham only managed to be ranked somewhere in the 80s.  Norman didn't run against Lindsey in the original primary before Lindsey died.  He ran in the gubernatorial race and lost.  There was a run-off for that, too, and he wasn't a part of it.  (If I recall, he fared better than my personal choice who was an outsider)  I don't recall if Fry was among the original cast of candidates at that time.

Norman had the backing of gun rights organizations because he's always been a 2nd Amendment stalwart.  In surveys sent to candidates, Graham didn't respond, and she's said to have backed a state politician who opposed 2nd Amendment legislation in the state (I don't recall the specifics).  She's also been a rather D.E.I. supporter in her previous state position.  I hadn't seen her debate, so that's about as far as I can go in speaking on her conservative bona fides, which to me seem less than compelling.  Again, it doesn't mean she's not a conservative, but simply not as conservative as I believe she should be, given how desperately we need the most conservative people in the most solid majority we can muster for the sake of the nation.

I will of course cast my vote for her in the November midterm election.  "Mostly" conservative is always better than not conservative at all, and that's pretty much her opponent, Annie Andrews based on what I've learned of her so far.  It will be interesting to see how Graham performs throughout her six year term, and in the meantime, I hope a true conservative from our state rises up to challenge and replace her if she doesn't prove me wrong about her being only "mostly" conservative.  In the meantime, I'll be content if she proves to be no better than a rubber stamp for Trump and his successor (provided that person is a Republican), and a decided thorn in the side of the Democrat marxists.