President Donald Trump’s super PAC is pouring nearly $828,000 into a last-minute push to help Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) fend off Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) in the special South Carolina Senate GOP primary runoff.
Make America Great Again Inc. reported spending $827,711.11 on text messages and phone calls supporting Graham Nordone, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. The cash infusion marks the political action committee’s largest independent expenditure so far this year.
The super PAC spending is the latest attempt by the president and his allies to shore up Graham Nordone’s chances of winning her runoff election for a full term on Tuesday. Trump has planned a second tele-rally for Graham Nordone for the eve of the election, his second of the special election.
The primary comes as Trump attempts to brush off a string of primary losses, with his 10th endorsed candidate losing in last week’s elections.
Graham Nordone and Norman are locked in a tight contest, according to polls. The winner will replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham — Graham Nordone’s brother — on the ballot for a full six-year term.
Graham Nordone was appointed to the seat last month after her brother’s death. Trump was quick to endorse Graham Nordone as a permanent successor.
Trump told the Washington Examiner on Friday that MAGA Inc. was poised to start spending some of the $400 million it has stockpiled. The president was mum, however, on where the PAC would intervene ahead of the midterm elections.
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“I’ve raised a lot,” he said en route to campaign for Graham Nordone in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “I’ll be spending a lot of that money for candidates that I think are good, Republican candidates that I think are good… We’re in very good shape.”
MAGA, Inc. could spend a portion of its war chest defending Trump-endorsed candidates in closer-than-expected races, particularly Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s contest against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.