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You are here: Home / 2026 Campaign / ‘Trump Threw Us All a Curveball’

‘Trump Threw Us All a Curveball’

August 1, 2026 at 7:29 am ET By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“When President Donald Trump helped orchestrate Darline Graham’s appointment to finish Sen. Lindsey Graham’s term, many Republicans in South Carolina saw it as a fitting tribute to her late brother,” CNN reports.

“But four days later, following Trump’s announcement that he wanted Graham to run for a six-year term, their feelings quickly flipped.”

“The president’s decision to get behind a political unknown for a breakneck special election process is further testing his clout in South Carolina, a solidly red state where Republicans already this year have roundly rejected his first pick for the governor’s race and his push to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Behind the scenes, some Republicans are stewing as others fret that Trump is setting himself up for failure, once again, in the Palmetto State.”

Mediaite: First poll on South Carolina Senate race for Lindsey Graham’s seat shows runoff is likely.

Filed Under: 2026 Campaign, State House

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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