DARLINE GRAHAM: I'm South Carolina's newest senator. This is who I am and what I believe

To everyone who has reached out over the past few weeks with condolences, stories about my brother Lindsey, and prayers — thank you. You have helped me and my family get through some of the hardest weeks of our lives.

I never expected to be running for office. I have never had any desire to be a politician. I am doing this because I am answering President Trump's call to serve and want to stand up for South Carolina and fight for his agenda.

Like Lindsey, I am a hard worker with a servant's heart. We grew up in the back of a bar and liquor store, in one room. Our parents worked hard every day to make ends meet — there was no time for sickness and few vacations, because if the doors weren't open, no money was coming in.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S SISTER APPOINTED TO SENATE AS GOP RUSHES TO PROTECT FRAGILE MAJORITY

My mother passed away when I was 11, and my father just over a year later. Lindsey stepped in to raise me. He was always there for me, and I will miss him dearly.

For 30 years my passion has been serving South Carolina. So when President Trump asked me to run for the Senate, I answered the call, and I am proud to have his endorsement.

For the past seven years, I led a state agency with 130 employees and a 90-million-dollar budget. We turned it from a struggling organization into a national model helping people find work and live independently. We made sure all spending was reasonable, allowable, and necessary. I fought against duplication of services knowing it wasted taxpayers' dollars.

But beyond the resume, people want to know who I am and what I believe.

I'm a mother, a grandmother, and a wife. I know how to bargain shop and I look for the buy-one-get-one-free sales at the grocery store. I just bought a new pair of shoes to walk around the U.S. Capitol off the clearance rack at the Shoe Warehouse. I cut my own grass with a push mower, and yes, I know how to use a weedeater.

Lindsey was the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was an expert on the federal budget. I am an expert on the family budget.

I have two daughters with health problems, so I know what it feels like to pay outrageous medical bills.

I know there isn't a single business in this country that would let you put everything on credit the way we do today with the federal budget.

I believe that if you have to show an ID to check out a library book, you should have to show one to vote. That's why the first bill I co-sponsored was the SAVE America Act. I am prepared to cancel the Senate’s August recess and stay in Washington to get it passed and sent to President Trump’s desk.

I believe Joe Biden let 12 million illegal immigrants walk into our country, and President Trump and I are going to walk them right back out. If you want to come to the United States, do it legally. And if you want to stay here, you need to respect our American values, not ask us to live by yours.

I support the Right to Life. I believe every human life is sacred and deserves protection.

I strongly support the Second Amendment, and I believe gun control is how steady you hold your weapon. I once had a concealed weapons permit and scored a 98 on the shooting portion of the test.

I'm a volleyball mom who loves nothing more than watching my daughter play, and I believe boys have no place in girls' sports and no business in girls' locker rooms.

I oppose DEI.

I think AOC is C-R-A-Z-Y.

I think Anthony Fauci should stop staring at the floor and answer the questions.

I feel like I had one of the most successful first days of any conservative senator in history — the sun hadn't even set before the ladies on The View were criticizing me.

I am the first woman United States senator in South Carolina history. My Democratic opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews, must not be the second. Dr. Andrews supports turning confused little boys into little girls and vice versa. I believe that makes her the worst pediatrician in the country.

I stand for the National Anthem.

I believe our veterans are heroes.

I will always Back the Blue.

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And I know that President Trump and I will Make America Great Again.

I'm Darline Graham: a bargain shopper and a hard worker who knows your struggles because I live them too.

I'm not an expert on Congress — I am an expert on the problems facing families in South Carolina.

I'm asking for your prayers, and I want to earn South Carolinians' vote. I promise to work hard every single day for South Carolina.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.