2026-10-10T10:00:44.997Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/10/politics/south-carolina-senate-darline-graham-lindsey-graham-annie-andrews
这正是参议员达琳·格雷厄姆的哥哥所擅长的那种场合——在参议院听证会上与证人交锋，时常做出激烈回应。
但上周达琳·格雷厄姆照着笔记向前特别顾问杰克·史密斯提问时，很快就表明这绝不会是林赛·格雷厄姆式的时刻。
格雷厄姆是今年7月她哥哥意外去世后被任命完成其剩余任期的参议员，她斥责史密斯在调查唐纳德·特朗普总统2021年1月6日国会山骚乱期间的行为时，调取了她已故哥哥的手机数据。已故的格雷厄姆参议员曾直言不讳地批评史密斯调取共和党议员的数据。
“你真的认为林赛会销毁根本不在他手中的证据吗？”她问道。
“不，我认为你哥哥是一位爱国的公职人员，”史密斯回应道，“他不是我们调查的目标，事实上他很可能会成为我们案件的证人。”
格雷厄姆读了几个后续问题后深吸一口气，打断史密斯的话，重新低头看向笔记。
“你知道我怎么想吗？我觉得你只是在欺凌我哥哥和特朗普总统的其他盟友。你给我哥哥和其他许多参议员带来了巨大压力，这让我感到恶心，”格雷厄姆一边看着文件一边说道，“你应该为自己感到羞耻。”
或许是因为一名同僚在篮球相关事件上的失言占据了头条，这番反击并未奏效。这场本应博取民众对其家人同情、让史密斯难堪的时刻，似乎并未在南卡罗来纳州引起共鸣。
尽管在哥哥今夏突然去世后，达琳·格雷厄姆在今年夏天恶补了政治知识，但作为候选人的她与林赛·格雷厄姆仍截然不同。随着南卡罗来纳州和华盛顿州的共和党人纷纷投入数百万美元新增广告支出为她撑腰，她的竞选表现正受到越来越多的审视。
民主党候选人安妮·安德鲁斯在这个唐纳德·特朗普总统两年前以18个百分点优势获胜的州，如今新具备了竞争力。自1998年以来，民主党人从未在南卡罗来纳州赢得过参议院席位。
“我们在全州范围内唯一真正担忧的就是达琳的竞选。我仍然认为她会获胜。但如果今天就举行选举，我想她的胜势可能只有两到三个百分点。我认为选举日的情况不会是这样，”另一位全州共和党候选人团队的高级幕僚告诉CNN，并提醒南卡罗来纳州确实存在直选投票制度。
共和党人抱怨称，格雷厄姆的竞选工作不如民主党对手到位，时间已进入10月仍无改观。一些人批评其竞选团队缺乏紧迫感和战略规划，但也有人相信她的竞选团队可在11月前扭转局面。
“如果我们看到（共和党州长候选人）艾伦·威尔逊以10到12个百分点的优势获胜，达琳以2到4个百分点胜出，我不会感到意外，”多切斯特县共和党主席CJ·韦斯特福尔说道，他在特别初选期间曾直言不讳地批评格雷厄姆的竞选活动，“她没有足够的筹款能力，没有足够的干劲，背后也没有足够的热情支持。”
格雷厄姆的竞选团队驳斥了外界对其陷入困境的担忧，称她已经遭遇了“一个多月来不间断的误导性广告攻击”。
“南卡罗来纳州民众现在开始了解真相了，”格雷厄姆竞选团队发言人T·W·阿里吉在一份声明中说道，“格雷厄姆参议员正在获胜，并将在11月赢得选举。”
“我们将继续战斗，继续稳步推进，我仍持谨慎乐观态度，你懂的？我不会想当然；这就是为什么我尽可能走访每一位选民，走遍州内每一个角落，”格雷厄姆本周在接受CNN附属机构WYFF采访时说道。
“达琳不是林赛”如今是南卡罗来纳州各地常被提及的一句话。对一些人来说，这不过是对两兄妹差异的观察。
林赛·格雷厄姆在竞选活动和筹款方面都极具影响力，他热衷于与记者、其他候选人和选民们互动交流。
他也曾有不少帕尔梅托州（南卡罗来纳州昵称）的批评者，一些人认为他不够保守，另一些人则觉得他对特朗普过于忠诚。但他似乎对批评毫不在意，继续筹款并赢得选举。今年6月，他斥巨资击退多名挑战者，最终轻松赢得初选。2020年，格雷厄姆与民主党人杰米·哈里森的竞选花费超过2.8亿美元，当时民调显示这场竞争势均力敌。格雷厄姆最终以10个百分点的优势获胜。
而他的妹妹则将竞选活动描述为“累人”且“残酷”。她时常照着笔记念稿。尽管亲切和蔼，但在为数不多、经过精心安排的公开亮相中，她看起来更为谨慎内敛。
格雷厄姆家族的密友称，期望她与哥哥一模一样是不公平的，两人的人生轨迹截然不同。
格雷厄姆本人也时常谈及自己与已故哥哥的不同之处。达琳已婚，育有两个孩子，还是一位祖母，而林赛终身未婚。兄妹二人都投身公职，但林赛选择了美国空军和政治道路，而达琳职业生涯的大部分时间都在帮助残疾人寻找工作。2019年至今年7月哥哥突然去世前，她一直担任南卡罗来纳州盲人委员会委员，随后被任命完成哥哥剩余的参议院任期。
她经常告诉选民，她打算凭实力赢得这个席位，但补充说没有人能取代她哥哥的位置。
在短暂的政治生涯中，达琳·格雷厄姆将自己塑造成比哥哥更为保守的人，在一些立场上与他分道扬镳：比如她支持特朗普总统，反对废除 filibuster（阻挠议事规则），在移民问题上也采取更强硬的立场。她常常谈到两人在政治兴趣上的截然相反，指出林赛热爱外交政策，而她更关心食品杂货的价格。
这种分歧在8月一场略显仓促的初选中辩论中显露无遗，当时达琳·格雷厄姆在回答有关台湾的问题时表示：“国家安全不是我擅长的领域。”
https://www.cnn.com/
特朗普总统为她这番饱受嘲讽的表现辩护，称赞她诚实。她的盟友则将她描绘成一位谦逊的职场母亲，热情专注于国内事务，在幕后工作数十年后，正同时兼顾参议院竞选活动。
“他们都在一家酒吧、一间台球厅的后院里度过了同样艰苦的童年。他们本质上是一路人，但也存在很大差异，”一位格雷厄姆竞选团队的消息人士说道，同时指出她一直在学习如何在参议院履职、开展竞选活动，同时还要为哥哥的去世而悲伤。“他们的性格不同，她很风趣和蔼，但不像林赛那样是个兼职单口喜剧演员。”
对另一些人来说，格雷厄姆兄妹之间的比较更是对这场离选举不到一个月仍显稚嫩的竞选活动的指责。
“林赛当我们的参议员时，帮助过许多处于艰难选战中的下位候选人。他会来为他们助选。他会协调选民动员活动，甚至是挨家挨户敲门拉票的活动。他还会为南卡罗来纳州共和党委员会捐款，”韦斯特福尔回忆道，他说尽管有批评，但他计划投票给达琳·格雷厄姆，“她的竞选活动有点销声匿迹了。”
格雷厄姆的竞选团队将其较轻的竞选日程归因于排得满满当当的参议院工作安排。消息人士指出，自参议院休会以来，她本周在州内共和党活动和本地媒体采访上的露面次数显著增加，并补充道，“随着竞选接近尾声，你会看到她更多地出现在公众面前。”
顶级共和党超级政治行动委员会“参议院领导基金”近日承诺投入500万美元支持这场竞选，而特朗普预计将在选举日前返回该州为她助选。
格雷厄姆的一些初选对手已大力支持她的大选竞选活动，比如与特朗普结盟的众议员拉塞尔·弗莱，他将在月底的“自由弗莱”活动中为格雷厄姆站台。在特别初选 runoff（决选）中输给格雷厄姆的众议员拉尔夫·诺曼已背书格雷厄姆，并表示支持共和党全候选人名单，但他的一些支持者仍在组织一场竞选活动，呼吁将票投给写名候选人，不满之声依然存在。
另一位全州共和党竞选团队的幕僚补充道，参议院领导基金注入的500万美元在南卡罗来纳州“并非小数目”，可以为格雷厄姆提供“更多的回旋空间，让你在最后阶段可以松一口气”。
格雷厄姆和她的盟友们全力利用反跨性别信息攻击安德鲁斯，认为作为一名儿科医生的安德鲁斯在这个问题上尤其脆弱。支持格雷厄姆的超级政治行动委员会投放的一则电视广告中，一名跨性别者在杂货店过道阴森地靠近一名年轻女孩，并说道“安德鲁斯拥有我的选票”。
安德鲁斯周四发布了一则直接面向镜头的电视广告，反驳这些反跨性别攻击，包括特朗普对她使用侮辱性言论的事件。她表示希望选民“清楚地听到我的声音：我不支持生理男性参加女子体育赛事，也不支持——也从未实施过——为未成年人进行变性手术。”
https://www.cnn.com/
至少一位资深共和党幕僚表示，格雷厄姆将精力过多放在了错误的议题上，指出“她在推特上唯一谈论的就是安妮·安德鲁斯和跨性别议题”。
“这趟列车早在2024年就已经开走了，”这位资深战略家告诉CNN，“她将自己与特朗普旗帜绑定，这是她唯一的策略，而在当前的环境下，这可能被证明是完全错误的策略。”
共和党这边的困境鼓舞了民主党人，他们在中期选举最后一个月里，在全国多个红州找到了新的机会。
一个新的超级政治行动委员会“Fresh Start SC”上月成立，并宣布初始投入250万美元支持这场竞选。截至目前，该委员会至少投放了两则攻击格雷厄姆的广告，其中一则于周三发布，批评她与健康保险行业关系过密。
“这场竞选势均力敌，因为南卡罗来纳州的民众对高物价感到愤怒，”为支持安德鲁斯的团队工作的民主党战略家乔迪·墨菲说道，“他们厌倦了华盛顿的腐败推高成本，他们希望有人能真正采取行动解决问题——那不是达琳。”
当CNN问及安德鲁斯作为民主党人如何向幻灭的共和党选民推销自己时，她提到了特朗普总统在格雷厄姆竞选活动中的角色。
“我不是被钦点参选的，”安德鲁斯在一次电话采访中说道，“我不欠华盛顿任何人。我将成为南卡罗来纳州的独立声音。我将把南卡罗来纳州放在首位。如果你更关心自己的账单，而不是你的政党或华盛顿的政治，那么这场竞选就是为你而设的。”
两人将于周日进行首场也是可能是唯一一场辩论。这场辩论对格雷厄姆来说至关重要，因为正是在初选中的一场辩论中，她承认国家安全“不是我擅长的领域”，这最终成为了她职业生涯中最受关注的时刻。
CNN的马克·普雷斯顿对本文亦有贡献。
‘Darline is not Lindsey’: Could a Graham really lose South Carolina for the GOP?
2026-10-10T10:00:44.997Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/10/politics/south-carolina-senate-darline-graham-lindsey-graham-annie-andrews
It was the kind of opportunity where Sen. Darline Graham’s brother thrived – squaring off with a witness in a Senate hearing, often with a fiery reaction.
But as Darline Graham read questions from her notes last week to former special counsel Jack Smith, it soon became clear this would not be a Lindsey Graham-esque moment.
Graham, appointed to finish her brother’s term after he unexpectedly died in July, scolded Smith for collecting her late brother’s phone data as part of his investigation into President Donald Trump’s conduct around the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The late Sen. Graham had been a vocal critic of Smith’s collection of GOP lawmakers’ data.
“Do you really believe that Lindsey was going to destroy evidence that was not even in his possession?” she asked.
“No, I believe your brother was a patriotic public servant,” Smith replied. “He was not a target of our investigation, and in fact he likely would have been a witness in our case.”
Graham read a few follow-up questions before taking a breath, cutting Smith off and looking back down at her notes.
“Do you know what I think? I think you are just trying to bully my brother and other allies of President Trump. You caused my brother and a lot of other senators a lot of stress, and that makes me sick,” Graham said, looking at her papers between sentences. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Perhaps it was because a colleague’s basketball-related gaffe consumed the headlines, but the punch didn’t land. What may have become a moment to elicit sympathy for her family and put Smith in his place instead seemingly failed to resonate in South Carolina.
Even after a crash course in politics this summer following her brother’s sudden death, Darline Graham, the candidate, remains very different from Lindsey Graham, the candidate. Her campaign performance is coming under increased scrutiny as Republicans in South Carolina and Washington rush to bolster her with millions in new ad spending.
Democratic nominee Annie Andrews is newly competitive in a state President Donald Trump won two years ago by 18 points. A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat in South Carolina since 1998.
“The only real concern for us, statewide, is Darline’s race. And I still think she’ll win. If the election were held today though, I think she’d only win by like two to maybe three points. I don’t think that will be the case come Election Day,” a top staffer on a different statewide GOP candidate’s team told CNN, with a reminder that South Carolina does have straight-party voting.
Republicans have complained Graham is being outworked by her Democratic opponent into October. Some have criticized what they see as a lack of urgency and strategy but believe her campaign can be turned around before November.
“I would not be surprised if we saw (GOP candidate for governor) Alan Wilson win by 10 to 12 percentage points and Darline win by two to four,” said Dorchester County Republican Party Chairman CJ Westfall, who was a vocal critic of Graham’s campaign in the special primary. “She doesn’t have the fundraising, she doesn’t have the energy, and she doesn’t have the enthusiasm behind her.”
Graham’s campaign has pushed back on concerns she’s in trouble, saying she’s endured “more than a month of nonstop misleading ads” against her.
“South Carolinians are now beginning to learn the truth,” Graham campaign spokesperson T.W. Arrighi said in a statement. “Sen. Graham is winning and will win in November.”
“We are going to keep fighting, keep plugging ahead, and I’m still cautiously optimistic, you know? I’m not going to take anything for granted; that’s why I’m trying to hit every voter that I can, every corner of the state,” Graham told CNN-affiliate WYFF in an interview this week.
“Darline is not Lindsey” is a phrase often repeated around South Carolina these days. For some, it’s simply an observation of differences between the siblings.
Lindsey Graham was a force on the campaign trail and in fundraising, who relished holding court with reporters, fellow candidates and constituents alike.
He had his own share of Palmetto State critics, with some seeing him as not conservative enough while others felt he’d become too loyal to Trump. But he seemed to let the criticism roll off his back, continuing to raise money and win elections. In June, he spent millions warding off multiple challengers to eventually – and comfortably – win his primary. In 2020, more than $280 million was spent on the contest between Graham and Democrat Jaime Harrison when polling suggested the race was tight. Graham went on to win that year by 10 points.
His sister has described campaigning as “grueling” and “brutal.” She’s often seen reading off notes. While gracious and affable, she also appears more cautious and reserved at her less frequent, more orchestrated appearances.
Those close to the Graham family have called any expectation that she be exactly like her brother unfair, pointing to their very different lives.
Graham herself often discusses how she differs from her late brother. Darline is a married mother of two and a grandmother, while Lindsey remained single. The siblings both went into public service, but Lindsey chose the US Air Force and politics, while Darline spent much of her career helping people with disabilities find jobs. She was the commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind from 2019 until she was appointed to finish the remainder of her brother’s current Senate term after his sudden passing in July.
She often tells voters that she plans to earn his seat but adds that no one can ever fill his shoes.
In her short political career, Darline Graham has pitched herself as more conservative than her brother, breaking with some of his positions, like eliminating the filibuster or a more hardline approach to immigration, to side with President Trump. She often talks about their polar opposite interests when it comes to politics, noting Lindsey loved foreign policy and she’s more interested in the price of groceries.
That divergence was on display during a shaky primary debate in August, when Darline Graham answered a question about Taiwan by saying, “National security is not my thing.”
https://www.cnn.com/
President Trump defended her much-lampooned performance by complimenting her honesty. Her allies paint her as a humble working mom whose passions lie in domestic issues and is juggling a Senate campaign after spending decades behind the scenes.
“They had the same hardscrabble upbringing in the back of a bar, back of a pool hall. They are cut from the same cloth, but they have very big differences,” a source with the Graham campaign said, while noting that she’s been learning her way around the Senate, campaigning and, simultaneously, grieving her brother. “Their personalities aren’t the same in that she’s very funny and affable, but she’s not a part-time stand-up comedian like Lindsey was.”
For others, the comparison between the Grahams is more of an indictment of a campaign that sometimes still feels fledgling, less than a month out from the election.
“When Lindsey was our senator, he helped a lot of the down-ballot people in tough races. He’d come campaign for them. He would overlap the get-out-the-vote efforts, even the door-knocking efforts. He was writing checks to the SCGOP,” recalled Westfall, who said that despite his criticism, he plans to vote for Darline Graham. “Her campaign has kind of disappeared.”
Graham’s campaign has chalked up her lighter campaign schedule to a jam-packed Senate schedule. Sources pointed to a marked increase in GOP event appearances around the state and local media interviews this week, since the Senate went into recess, while noting, “You’ll continue to see her out there even more as we as we close out the race.”
The top Republican super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, recently committed $5 million to the race and Trump is expected to return to the state before Election Day to campaign for her.
Some of Graham’s primary opponents have vigorously supported her general election efforts, like Trump-allied Rep. Russell Fry, who is featuring Graham at his “Freedom Fry” event at the end of the month. Rep. Ralph Norman, who lost to Graham in the special primary runoff, has endorsed Graham and says he supports the Republican ticket, though vocal discontent remains from some of his supporters organizing a campaign to write in his name.
The staffer on a different statewide Republican campaign added that the $5 million infusion from the Senate Leadership Fund is “not a small amount” in South Carolina and could give Graham “more of a runway where you can exhale here at the end.”
Graham and her allies have gone all in on using anti-trans messaging against Andrews, seeing her as especially vulnerable on the issue because she is a pediatrician. One TV ad from a pro-Graham super PAC depicts a transgender person ominously approaching a young girl in a grocery store aisle and saying Andrews “has my vote.”
Andrews released as a direct-to-camera TV ad Thursday rebutting the anti-trans attacks, including Trump referring to her with a slur, saying she wants voters to hear her “loud and clear: I don’t support biological men playing women’s sports and I don’t support – and haven’t ever performed – gender surgery for minors.”
https://www.cnn.com/
At least one veteran GOP operative said Graham was focusing too much on the wrong issues, noting “the only thing she is talking about on Twitter is Annie Andrews and trans issues.”
“That train left the station in 2024,” the veteran strategist told CNN. “She wrapped herself in the Trump flag and it is her only play, and in an environment like this, it could prove the exact wrong play.”
The troubles on the Republican side have encouraged Democrats who are finding fresh opportunities in red states across the country in the final month of the midterms.
A new super PAC, Fresh Start SC, sprung up last month and announced an initial $2.5 million investment in the race. So far, it’s run at least two ads against Graham, including one released Wednesday that criticizes her as too close with the health insurance industry.
“This race is in play because people in South Carolina are pissed off about high prices,” said Jody Murphy, a Democratic strategist working for the group a pro-Andrews group. “They’re tired of the corruption in Washington that’s driving up costs, and they want someone who will actually do something about it – that ain’t Darline.”
When CNN asked Andrews how she, as a Democrat, is pitching herself to disillusioned Republicans, she alluded to President Trump’s role in Graham’s campaign.
“I was not handpicked to run,” Andrews said in a phone interview. “I don’t owe anybody in Washington. I will be an independent voice for South Carolina. I will put South Carolina first. And if you care more about your bills than your political party or than the politics in DC, then this campaign is for you.”
The two are set for their first and maybe only debate Sunday. It is a high-stakes meeting for Graham, given it was a primary debate where she admitted national security “is not my thing,” which ultimately became the biggest breakout moment she’s had.
CNN’s Mark Preston contributed to this report.