Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., isn't trying to be a carbon copy of her late brother Lindsey, but as she vies for the opportunity to fill his Senate seat long-term, she's determined to carry on his legacy while forging a path of her own.
"I think Lindsey was an amazing senator," she said Monday on "Fox & Friends."
"His interest was foreign relations and national security, as we know. And while national security is really important, I'm a little different..."
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Lindsey Graham spent decades carving out a reputation as one of the Senate's leading foreign policy hawks. His sister, now South Carolina's junior senator, says her focus would be closer to home — particularly on the financial pressures facing families across the state.
"I want to focus on the struggles of the South Carolina families because, like them, I feel those same struggles," she shared.
Graham said voters on the campaign trail have repeatedly raised concerns about affordability, including the cost of gas, groceries and health care. In a last-minute pitch ahead of Tuesday's special election, she pointed to her two daughters' serious health issues and her own bargain-shopping habits as examples of how those pressures have hit home.
"I struggle, too... when I go shopping, I'm a bargain shopper," she said.
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"If the steak's not on sale, I don't buy it that week. I look for the buy one, get one free sale, so I think, like most South Carolinians, I live the struggles here, too, and we have to get the economy booming and cut government spending in order to get the prices down."
Graham is among ten Republicans vying for voters' support in Tuesday's election, capping a whirlwind stretch that thrust her into the political arena following her brother's sudden death in July.
She acknowledged the toll of simultaneously grieving Lindsey, adjusting to life in the Senate and mounting a campaign to keep the seat long-term.
"Over the past three weeks, I've buried my precious brother. I've learned the new role in the United States Senate. I'm on this brutal campaign trail with a brutal schedule," she said.
