President Donald Trump is finalizing plans to rally with Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina on Oct. 21, three sources familiar with the matter told MS NOW, as the state’s Senate race grows unexpectedly close.

The rally, which sources said is subject to change, would take place in Greenville, an area that Graham’s Republican primary opponent Rep. Ralph Norman carried during the special election primary.

The visit would mark Trump’s second rally in the Palmetto State to boost Graham, a political novice running to succeed her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for a full six-year Senate term.

Despite South Carolina being a reliably red state, recent polls have shown a neck-and-neck race between Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician. Trump won South Carolina by more than 17 percentage points in 2024. The state has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1998.

In a sign of the GOP’s concerns, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., poured $5 million into the race, a source familiar with the matter told MS NOW.

The stop in South Carolina would be Trump’s latest on his midterm blitz through several traditionally red states, with stops also expected in Arizona, Montana, Georgia and Kentucky.

It comes more than three months after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham to finish her brother’s term after his death in July. At Trump’s urging and with his endorsement, Graham then decided to run for the full six-year term, entering a crowded field of Republicans for the GOP nod.

Graham advanced to a runoff against Norman, beating him by 4.8 percentage points.

Trump rallied with Graham in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, during the special primary, looking to boost the political novice after she conceded on the debate stage that she was “not that informed on national security,” a moment that went viral and raised questions about her qualifications for office.

Before her appointment to finish her brother’s term, Graham had never served in elected office.

During that rally, Trump tried to clean up Graham’s stumble on the debate stage.

“She’s never done it before, but she knows politics well,” Trump told the crowd. “She loves our military. She loves things that have to do with greatness for America.”

Trump has taken a particular interest in the race in recent weeks, attacking Andrews on Truth Social in an effort to boost Graham. Last week, he referred to Andrews as “Annie ‘Trannie’ Andrews,” using an anti-transgender slur. Andrews responded with a video, saying, “I want you to hear me 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.”

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