From the Editorial Board: Patriot Pulse Endorses Ralph Norman for US Senate

Some might believe that South Carolinian voters should honor Lindsey Graham by making his sister the GOP nominee for the US Senate Seat held by the late Senator.

But Graham’s Senate seat was not “his” – it belongs to voters who should look at candidates’ records instead of their last names.

Any conservative who does will know that Ralph Norman has proven himself.

We do not abide hereditary title to office in the United States

Darline Graham Nordone was appointed as placeholder and sworn in as Senator on July 14.

She had never held elected office before that day – let alone been chosen by voters.

Eight days later she posted on X calling herself pro-life.

She listed a handful of bills – Hyde, the Mexico City Policy, the Born-Alive Act – that sound tough and do almost nothing to stop an abortion in South Carolina or anywhere in the United States.

That is a campaign staffer's press release and it’s almost certainly the type of hollow counsel given by hangers-on from her brother’s political operation who are probably more interested in hanging on to their own power than standing up for conservative values.

Ralph Norman has a Pro-Life track record – in Congress and at the Supreme Court

He cosponsored the Life at Conception Act back in 2021, years before Darline Graham ever held a Senate credential.

That bill would declare every preborn child a person under the 14th Amendment.

Norman also led the congressional amicus brief backing South Carolina in Medina v. Planned Parenthood, the case that reached the Supreme Court over taxpayer funding for the nation's largest abortion provider.

He backed H.R. 1's push to cut Planned Parenthood off from Medicaid dollars.

Students for Life Action gave him a 100 percent rating.

Heritage Action puts his lifetime score at 98 percent.

Lindsey Graham never cosponsored Life at Conception.

His sister has not said whether she will cosponsor it now, even after Students for Life's Kristan Hawkins publicly challenged her to do it before early voting closes.

We don’t expect she ever would.

Clear Choice on the Second Amendment

Ralph Norman has never cast a vote against gun rights in his time in Congress.

He backed Real Constitutional Carry, the bill that would make a South Carolina carry permit good in all fifty states instead of stopping at the border.

That record, not a press release, is what earned endorsements from the National Association for Gun Rights, former Sen. Jim DeMint, Sens. Rick Scott and Mike Lee, former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Turning Point USA into this race behind him.

None of those endorsements is why Norman earns ours.

They're confirmation that everyone who has actually watched his votes, from gun-rights groups to sitting senators, has already reached the verdict we have.

The Only Two Political Contributions Darline Graham Has Ever Made Were to Pro-Abortion “Sister Senators”

State ethics filings show Darline Graham Nordone wrote two checks to South Carolina state Sen. Katrina Shealy.

These are the only two political contributions public campaign finance records show her ever making.

The first came in 2020.

The second landed on October 19, 2023 – months after Shealy had already spent the spring helping filibuster South Carolina's heartbeat bill on the Senate floor.

Shealy was one of the "Sister Senators," a coalition of three Republicans, a Democrat, and an independent who blocked South Carolinians' largest effort to end the killing of unborn babies.

Shealy later tried to amend the bill that did pass to legalize abortion up to twelve weeks.

Every pro-life family in South Carolina who followed that fight watched Shealy do it on national news.

Graham wrote her second check after all of that, not before it.

Shealy tried to wave the donations off on X as "one and only one" contribution.

State records say otherwise.

Graham has never explained the second check herself.

She posted a list of watered-down bills and hoped the story would move on.

She never said Shealy's filibuster disappointed her, or that she disagreed with it.

She said nothing, because saying something would mean admitting where that money went.

It went straight to her pal fighting to keep South Carolina's abortion mills open.

Why This Race Isn't a Coronation

Ralph Norman doesn't need a famous last name.

He has nine years of votes, a Supreme Court brief, and a spotless pro-life and pro-gun record.

Darline Graham has an appointment that runs out in January, advisors who sold her to a president still mourning his friend, and two checks she still hasn't explained.

South Carolina Republicans vote August 11.

The Patriot Pulse Editorial Board endorses Ralph Norman for the United States Senate.

Sources:

• Kelsie Sandoval, "Norman, Graham lead South Carolina GOP Senate primary: Poll," The Hill, July 30, 2026.
• Emerson College Polling, "South Carolina 2026: Norman, Graham Lead GOP Special Primary; Runoff Likely," Emerson College Polling, July 30, 2026.
• Fox News, "South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman draws gun, says 'I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords,'" Fox News, April 2018.
• Students for Life Action, "Students for Life Action Endorses Congressman Ralph Norman," StudentsForLifeAction.org, May 14, 2026.
• Heritage Action, "Rep. Ralph Norman – Scorecard 117," Heritage Action, 2026.
• South Carolina State Ethics Commission, campaign finance disclosure filings, ethicsfiling.sc.gov.
• Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins), post on X, August 3, 2026.
• Peter D'Abrosca, "Anthony Fauci Honored at Smithsonian as Diary Reveals Contradictions," Fox News, July 30, 2026.
• Fox Carolina, "Former Sen. Jim DeMint endorses Rep. Ralph Norman in race for late Sen. Graham's seat," Fox Carolina, July 23, 2026.
• FITSNews, "S.C. Succession: National Gun Rights Group Backs Ralph Norman," FITSNews, August 6, 2026.

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