Nine Republican candidates vying to permanently fill late Sen. Lindsey Graham\u2019s Senate seat spoke directly to voters Saturday at an event in Florence County, South Carolina, where they addressed the war with Iran, the rising tide of socialism in the Democratic Party and potential privacy concerns around Flock cameras.
\nThe event was hosted by Alan Wilson, South Carolina\u2019s Republican gubernatorial nominee, who pitched the gathering a kind of \u201cspeed dating,\u201d since each candidate was given six minutes to address the crowd.
\nThe special Republican Senate primary is coming up on Aug. 11, which made Saturday\u2019s event one of the last chances for the candidates to make their closing arguments to voters.
\nHere\u2019s what they chose to focus on in their elevator pitches.
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Darline Graham
\nSen. Darline Graham \u2014 who was chosen to finish out her brother\u2019s term after his death in July \u2014 was the last to speak but was quick to tell attendees that she intended to earn their votes.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not a politician. I never wanted to be a politician. But like Lindsey, I have a servant\u2019s heart. I am a hard worker. And yes, I have President Trump\u2019s endorsement, but I know I have to earn your votes,\u201d she said at the beginning of her speech.
\nShe emphasized that she was not a \u201cDEI\u201d candidate, hyping her experience running the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, a state agency with a $90 million budget and dozens of employees.
\n\u201cWe help blind people and people with disabilities get jobs so that they don\u2019t have to rely on the government. How is that DEI?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
TRUMP MAY HAVE ENDORSED DARLINE GRAHAM, BUT GOP SENATE HOPEFULS AREN\u2019T BACKING DOWN
\nShe also made sure to highlight issues she and President Donald Trump agree on, including keeping transgender girls out of female sports, standing with Israel, supporting implementing voter ID through the SAVE Act and ending blanket birthright citizenship.
\nGraham briefly touched on socialism within the Democratic Party, calling it a problem that has to be stopped. She also described Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as crazy.
\nHer speech concluded by answering a question about Flock cameras, which can automatically read license plates and are being installed all over the country.
\n\u201cI need to look into that one, because there\u2019s two sides to that story. I know that some people are concerned about privacy and protecting their privacy, and I\u2019m all for protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens. The other side of it is, if there\u2019s an emergency situation that an ambulance can be called quicker, and it can save lives,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI\u2019m going to be honest. That\u2019s a hard one for me. So I want to look into it a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ralph Norman
\nRep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., focused on his frustration with the Senate, calling it the place where \u201cgood bills go to die.\u201d
\nHe proposed overhauling the Senate\u2019s rules to get measures like the SAVE Act passed.
\n\u201cI will use my, whatever expertise I have to go to the Senate and force the vote, whether it\u2019s blowing up the filibuster or having a walking filibuster or getting with the parliamentarian and changing some of these stupid, arcane rules that the Senate has,\u201d Norman said.
\nThe Senate filibuster allows a minority of senators to delay or block most legislation, effectively requiring 60 votes to advance a bill and making it harder for a narrow majority to enact its agenda.<\/p>\n
TRUMP\u2019S VOTER ID BILL CATCHES UNLIKELY BREAK AS MCCONNELL REMAINS SIDELINED
\nFollowing his remarks, Norman was asked a question about the extent to which AI data centers should be regulated.
\nHe said the federal government should not have a role but appeared to disagree with Trump\u2019s recent full-throated support of bringing data centers to communities around the country.
\n\u201cDo I think it\u2019s bad for the community? Yes. Do I think it hurts the environment? Yes. And I will do whatever I can,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n
Mark McBride
\nThe key takeaway from former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride\u2019s speech is that he broke away from Trump\u2019s position on the war with Iran.
\n\u201cY\u2019all, there is something we have to address if we\u2019re going to win in November,\u201d McBride said. \u201cWe need to end the war. We need to end the war now.\u201d
\n\u201cWe just have to admit we\u2019ve lost the war. We\u2019ve lost this battle,\u201d he continued. \u201cCome home and regroup for another day.\u201d
\nHe then addressed the crowd, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s not one of y\u2019all in here who voted for President Trump a year and a half ago because this is where you thought we would be.\u201d
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\nSam Shepherd
\nSam Shepherd, an engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, took the opposite approach to McBride, claiming he is \u201cmore conservative than Trump.\u201d
\nShepherd cast himself as someone who has the skills to fix complex issues within the bureaucracy and the military.
\nHe also took a moment to one-up Elon Musk, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, arguing he had more patents than the Tesla billionaire.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve actually authored more patents than Elon Musk. I have 44. I\u2019m asking for you to bring common sense back to the government,\u201d Shepherd said.
\nRussell Fry
\nRep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., spent much of his speech tying the affordability issues Americans are facing to \u201conerous regulations.\u201d
\n\u201cWe see this on farms. We see this in every manner of our government \u2014 regulations strangle us,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get government out of the way if we\u2019re going to solve this affordability crisis.\u201d
\nIn response to a question about how he would secure the border if elected, Fry started off by attacking former President Joe Biden\u2019s work ethic and praising Trump\u2019s.
\n\u201cYou actually have to have a president who\u2019s awake for more than four hours a day, right? We went from a president who slept for 20 and was awake for four, to a president who is awake for 20 and sleeps for four,\u201d Fry said.
\nFry said he would work to close \u201cloopholes Biden used\u201d to grant thousands of Haitians and Nicaraguans asylum in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Mark Sanford
\nFormer South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford zeroed in on the ballooning national debt, which is about to reach a staggering $40 trillion.
\nSanford, who also twice served as South Carolina congressman, said the debt is incomprehensible and unsustainable.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got a federal government that goes out and spends money it doesn\u2019t have, and then it turns around, and it prints money that\u2019s not there,\u201d Sanford said.
\nHe argued that the growing national debt is inextricably linked to Americans reaching financial and life milestones later in life.
\n\u201cThe average age to buy a house, not that long ago, was 39 years of age, just 15 years ago. Today, that number is 59. In 15 years, it slid back 20 years, which is to say the American dream is becoming that much more difficult \u2014 whether it\u2019s my four boys or y\u2019all\u2019s kids or grandkids out there,\u201d Sanford said.<\/p>\n
Mark Lynch
\nMark Lynch, a businessman, was another candidate who favored getting rid of the filibuster.
\nHe also said he wouldn\u2019t \u201ctake a penny from AIPAC,\u201d making him one of the few candidates, along with McBride, to stake out a position at odds with the field\u2019s staunch support for Israel.
\nLynch\u2019s \u201cnumber one\u201d issue was his strong opposition to abortion. He talked at length about how he has spent time convincing women not to go through with terminating their pregnancies and how he has lobbied state legislators to toughen abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n
Danny Ford II
\nDanny Ford II, the son of the championship-winning former head football coach at Clemson University, was the first to address Flock cameras and the potential privacy issues they raise.
\nHe also talked about rapid data center development getting \u201cout of control.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s getting pushed straight down our citizens\u2019 throats without any say so,\u201d he said.
\nOn the issue of data centers, Ford said they need to be sustainable, produce their own power and not \u201cleave a stain on South Carolina.\u201d
\nGlenda Gail Parker
\nGlenda Gail Parker, a retired budget analyst with the U.S. Air Force, described herself as a conservative independent who leans Republican, but broke with Trump on energy policy, saying the country needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
\nIn response to a question about how she would ensure South Carolina farmers get the assistance they need after natural disasters, Parker said she would work to mitigate \u201cthe climate extremes that we are experiencing now.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd I do that by reducing our consumption of fossil fuels, and lower[ing] the demand for fossil fuels. In fact, today I want to challenge the oil and gas companies,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThose companies that are interested in longevity must realize that they are in the energy business, not the oil and gas business. And so I would like to challenge the oil and gas businesses to clean up their image.\u201d
\nShe concluded by saying the U.S. needs to pursue solar, wind, geothermal energy and hydropower.<\/p>\n
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