♪ Gavin> Welcome to a This week in South Carolina special report I'm Gavin Jackson.

This week we talk with the top candidates vying for the Republican nomination for U.S.

Senate, a nomination the late Senator Lindsey Graham won outright back in early June as he sought his fifth term.

This special election is August 11th, and a runoff will be held on August 25th.

If none of the ten candidates clinch a majority on Tuesday, the SC GOP and Republican gubernatorial nominee Alan Wilson have organized several events with the candidates, and we attended one in Lexington County on August 1st.

We start with Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to fill the remainder of her brother's term and is running with President Donald Trump's endorsement.

She spoke with us separately this week, and unfortunately, we had issues with her video.

But I opened by asking about who she is.

>> I wouldn't say we were poor, We made it, but not a lot of luxuries.

So that was our humble beginnings.

And I think that's where Lindsey and I both learned a very strong work ethic and the value of a dollar.

And then from there, you know, I went on went to school, went to college thanks to a Pell Grant, Social Security and Lindsey's help, got a college education, and then my career evolved into eventually running.

I've been working for 30 years for the people of South Carolina, for the state of South Carolina.

The last seven, I was running a state agency, and I'm very proud of that.

I turned a struggling agency into a national model, 130 employees, a $90 million budget, and, you know, I was very big on making sure that we use taxpayers dollars wisely.

What, I thought duplication of services, because I feel like it was wasteful to taxpayers dollars.

I made sure that our spending was reasonable, allowable and necessary.

So that's kind of me on the career front and the experience I bring to the table, I think is really good experience for this job that I'm currently in as senator.

And on a family front, I'm married.

I'm a grandmother and a mother.

My grandson is almost two years old and my daughter is pregnant with another child.

So super excited about that.

One of my daughters, she just turned 32.

The other one's 17.

So she started, her senior year of high school this morning.

And unfortunately, I was not there to send her off this morning.

It's the first year that I haven't been there the morning that she leaves for school.

So that was a little difficult, but, very proud of my two young ladies there.

Good kids.

Gavin> What, what prompted you to say I want to do more than just be the person to to run out the rest of this legacy for him?

What made you say, I want to get in this race and actually run for this seat?

Darline> Well, I was honored, you know, when President Trump called me and asked me and he gave me his endorsement that, that was, you know, one reason.

The president calls that that's pretty amazing to me.

And I was, like I said, very honored.

But the other thing is, like Lindsey, I've been saying, I have a servant's heart.

I think Lindsey just being up here for a few weeks, hearing, the relationships he built with people on here in the Senate world wide, how respected he was.

I know he was in it for the right reasons to serve the people of South Carolina.

He worked so hard.

Eventually, I think he worked himself to death.

And, like Lindsey, I have a servant's heart.

I'm not a politician.

I've never wanted to be a politician.

I'm not a millionaire.

I'm not in it for self ambition or, or gain, or to become rich or for power or anything like that.

I just know how hard Lindsey worked serving the people of South Carolina.

I know I've worked hard for the past 30 years of serving people in South Carolina, and I feel like this is just a way that I can continue not only what Lindsey was doing, but continue what I was doing on another level.

That, combined with a whole lot of prayer and support from my family and support from his amazing team that has committed to me.

Gavin> And, Senator, looking back and discussing your, your politics and maybe where you stand on things, kind of give us an idea about what your political ideology is.

Obviously, you introduced your brother when he was running for president back in 2015, 2016, and we all know how he changed, to adapt to the current reality of the conservative the Republican Party, too, as well as President Trump.

Have you had a similar transition too?

Obviously, you were supporting him, but tell us about maybe your background and your ideologies.

Darline> Lindsey had conservative values.

I have conservative values as well.

You know, someone is ask me, Lindsey was known for working across the aisle.

Would I do the same?

And my answer to that has been absolutely anything that could help South Carolina or make this country better, I will definitely work across the aisle or work with anybody to accomplish that.

One thing that I will not do is compromise my conservative values.

Gavin> And when we talk about that, and we talk about your late brother.

And that was something that you agree with him on.

You're similar with him on where maybe what are some other similarities that we can see between you and him, as well as some differences, you might be, you know, breaking away from your brother on?

>> Right, right.

Well, I think, you know, we've discussed the similarities.

It's our values.

It's our upbringing.

It is getting in it for the right reasons to serve the people.

I think all of those are similarities.

When it comes to differences, Lindsey spent 30 something years in the Air Force.

He had a military background, background.

I was very proud of him for that.

He was very proud of that, as well.

And he traveled the world.

He built relationships with many people doing that.

So his interest was foreign relations.

He was really knowledgeable, very good at that.

National security was, of course, very important to him.

And I'm not saying that I don't think foreign relations are important.

Our national security is not important.

I'm definitely saying it is important, but that was in the interest of his because of his background.

My background is a little bit different.

I'm your average South Carolinian that has lived paycheck to paycheck for a long time.

I faced the struggles that most families have faced in South Carolina.

I've mentioned before that both my daughters have serious health problems.

I understand, you know, how medical bills can stack up sometimes they bankrupt families.

I understand when I go to the grocery store, I'm buying the sales.

I'm not getting steak, like I've said before, unless it's on sale.

I'm looking for bargains.

I'm looking for shoes on the clearance rack.

Those kinds of things I think I can identify with the average South Carolina family, knowing what's important to them and working hard for them.

Gavin> Fifth District Congressman Ralph Norman, who came in third in the gubernatorial primary in June, said this is an opportunity to shake up the Senate.

Rep.

Ralph Norman> I've been in Congress eight years and I decided to throw my head in the ring for governor.

And then unexpectedly, when this came up, I decided to run for the Senate.

And, Senate is stagnant and needs be changed.

Gavin> Congressman, you've been up there like you're saying for eight years now.

Tell me, what makes you want to run for the Senate seat.

Rep.

Norman> This country is at a tipping point.

We're in trouble.

The Senate has, is the body that good bills die.

And we cannot continue to go or don't have the runway to let, bills, particularly the SAVE Act you know, showing that you are an American citizen before you vote.

Is that so?

Is that such a controversial...thought?

Yes, it is.

It's got to change.

I'll be a vocal advocate to nuke the filibuster to change that.

And overall the president's agenda America's First agenda with, peace through strength.

The economy, we've got to get back on track with spending more than we make and, promoting South Carolina and protecting South Carolina.

Gavin> And then, Congressman, you were in the Freedom Caucus in the House.

Would do you want to see something similar in the Senate.

Rep.

Norman> Well, the Freedom Caucus is leading the way in the House, and we've got members we meet with in the Senate that meet with us every week.

Mike Lee is one of them.

Rick Scott is one of them.

And you know what we ask are budgetary questions.

How can we make it better?

How can we get this country so they're not going bankrupt, and we'll question it and whether it's a form of caucus or not or whether it's just, you know, out of the 153 that are Republicans that would love to do it, I don't know if a single Democrat this would we would ask to join.

Gavin> Also looking into it, we just talked about this a little bit, but what do you see the biggest issue facing South Carolina that you can tackle in the Senate?

Rep.

Norman> What I'll tackle in South Carolina is we've got massive growth coming our way.

Affordability.

People in South Carolina, middle class have been squeezed out.

House, housing, which is my industry affordability, eggs, gas, groceries, you name it, I will fight to, cut regulations for businesses.

I will be a, boots on the ground to, to make sure South Carolina maintains it's identity, it's culture.

The farmland bought by China we'll go after.

All that, we will protect the state.

And I will use the, being one of being one of two senators who represent South Carolina we'll do it well.

Gavin> And then when you look at the life and legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, you worked with him briefly when you were up in Congress, where would you maybe find common ground on him and his legacy and his leadership and his politics, and maybe where there are some differences for folks who are looking, maybe you're maybe used as a gauge in terms of your politics.

Rep.

Norman> What was on both, the both funerals I went to in DC and in Columbia, his legacy was, he was likable.

You could disagree with him, but you couldn't... He wasn't disagreeable.

The fact that he did what he did with Kavanaugh hearings, he turned the tide for conservative Supreme Court Justice in Kavanaugh, where I think we'll be different is, he's on the budget committee.

I'm on the budget committee.

I made the big, beautiful bill better.

We cannot keep the spending up.

I do not agree with endless wars.

I don't do not think that we can continue again.

The spending at every level.

We've got to put a stop to that.

That's where you'll see a probably a difference than in Senator Graham.

And I'll let the people know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it.

And is the cancer in America now is, is overspending.

Gavin> And final question, you've talked about term limits in the past.

Would you term limit yourself in the Senate?

Rep.

Norman> Yeah, I mean, I'll sign a term limit bill.

Three, the one that was being promoted was three terms in the House, six years and two terms in the Senate.

I'd put that up again, as I've done every year in Congress.

Gavin> Would you self term limit?

Two terms?

Rep.

Norman> Yeah.

I would.

Gavin> Seventh District Congressman Russell Fry is a lawyer turned party activist, former three term State House member, where he rose to Chief Majority Whip and then unseated Congressman Tom Rice in the 2022 primary to represent the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand.

Rep.

Russell Fry> Look, I have, it's a passion for public service.

I think about how I grew up with meager means and what I what I fear and what I feel from people, in South Carolina and really everywhere is the pull, the financial strain.

And how do we how do we rectify that?

How do we cure that?

And not just for the next election, for the next generation?

I think about the pressures that people face, and how, how they're trying to put food on the table or save a little bit of money for their child's future.

Those are really what I'm passionate about in delivering that.

We've certainly we've worked on these in the state House and in Congress.

But the next generation, really requires this moment to be met with somebody, who is active, who has energy, who is engaged.

People are craving a new generation of conservative leadership, one who's not going to be a wallflower or part of the furniture, but who's going to deliver conservative results for the people that they represent.

Gavin> And what does that look like for you when we talk about maybe the biggest issues that you think, are facing South Carolinians?

what are those to you and how would you address those?

Rep.

Russell Fry> Well, I think certainly energy is the big one, the affordability, the price of the home, the opportunity for people to succeed.

On energy, we don't build things in this country anymore.

If you look at the duplicative and onerous regulations that we have, we are not generating enough power.

So people's power bills naturally go up.

China is putting up a coal plant every day.

They're putting up a nuclear plant every month.

And I'm not saying that we adopt that model, but the way that we do things in this, in this country with our agencies doesn't make any sense.

And the agencies themselves tell you that.

So we have to generate more power.

Gas, look, this president has done a remarkable job at bringing about a resurgence or a renaissance of, of oil and natural gas.

We, we produce a lot, but transmission lines are important, refineries are important, and they're blocked all the time.

If we want to be, energy independent, it starts here at home.

There's a lot more to do to get to that point.

These are all kitchen table issues that filter down, with the price of a barrel of oil, the ability to surge up production when you need it, when there are disruptions in the marketplace, energy is the same way, is that if we don't build this energy production, if we let the spotted salamander supplant the American family, as what is most important, then we're really doing a disservice to the next generation.

and really doing a service to businesses, and to ingenuity that have driven this country so successfully for its first 250 years.

Gavin> And that being said, you know, you're from the Myrtle Beach, the Grand Strand area, you know growth better than most people in the state.

How do you address that growth?

Do we need to slow it down?

Do we need to embrace it?

How do you do that and what can you do, maybe as a senator to address that?

Rep.

Russell Fry> Well, I think infrastructure is important.

Right.

What I've done in the seventh Congressional District is work with Lindsey Graham to bring back resources to this state.

We actually worked very strategically together on that, whether it's a firehouse in Cheraw, whether it's a water system that needs resources so that people have clean water.

These are important to the people that we represent.

What has never left me, you know, how I grew up is I never forgot where I came from.

And when I go into a big city or a small town, there are different pressures.

They're trying to deliver help to their people, too.

Public safety, fire and police.

I mean, as you say, back to blue, but we also deliver on that helping the, the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office, get radios so that their officers are safe, in a very remote and rural part of Chesterfield County.

These are easy, to me, they're very easy things that save lives, that make the communities safer and better.

And we're going to continue to do that.

Gavin> So in that vein, talking about the late senator, where do you see similarities to him and differences to him and the way he approached politics and what he did for the state and also internationally?

Rep.

Russell Fry> From... a, from a focus on excellent constituent service and helping bring resources back to the state, we're very similar.

On big topical issues that drive the conservative movement, we're very similar.

On our appreciation of and willingness to work with President Trump and not stand in the way, we're very similar.

I, but I'm more focused on domestic policies, keeping communities safe, making energy and life more affordable for our families.

That's what, that's what I think about it.

Foreign affairs is important.

It is not my most important thing that I want to focus on.

Gavin> And wrapping up, Congressman, when you look at term limits, where do you stand on term limits, would you self-impose at all?

Rep.

Russell Fry> I think term limits are actually really important.

And what I would say is, is that we do need to have a term limit component.

But I also think that you need to have it for their career bureaucrats, because what happens in this scenario is that in states that have term limits, the elected representatives, when they finally figure out how things are made and done, they are termed out, and they're, they're less effective in the bureaucracy that are so entrenched and unwilling to change, you got to have a component of that.

I don't know if that's three terms, two terms, whatever the case is, I don't know what that number is.

But what I will say is you also have to solve the back end of this equation.

If you're fighting the bureaucracy, they don't want to change.

They don't want to, to be responsive to the people.

They want to operate with little as little disruption as possible.

And the elected representatives are often in the way for the bureaucrats.

And so we need to we need to figure out that part of the equation too.

Gavin> So you're more of a term limit, by the election box versus self imposing anything.

Rep.

Russell Fry> Well, for sure, but I've supported and voted for term limits.

But what I do think that we also need to think about is that other component is the bureaucracy, the fourth branch of government, if you will, of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats that wait you out and they wait for you to leave, and they keep doing the same thing that they've always done.

Gavin> Mark Sanford, the former first district congressman turned two term governor who then returned to Congress for three more terms starting in 2013, remains steadfast in his desire to cut spending in Washington.

Gov.

Mark Sanford> I absolutely believe that our country is in a financial tipping point.

And, you know, we've talked about this stuff.

I've talked about this stuff for years.

But the first time people are feeling the pressure, if you have a governor that goes out and spends money he doesn't have and then prints money that's not there, the value of every dollar goes down.

And so this affordability issue is hitting people.

It's real.

So it's taking the abstract of that deficit, government spending and making it real.

And ultimately political teams comes as a consequence to what's real in people's lives.

So I'm getting in, because I'm worried to death about the debt and the deficit and its implications for our lives.

I think it's real, at this time because of the way affordability is impacting people's lives.

Gavin> How come Republicans aren't doing anything about that?

Do you think they aren't doing do anything about that right now?

It doesn't seem like it.

<No> Gov.

Sanford> I mean, we have a Social Security trust fund that's scheduled to go bankrupt in five plus years, Medicare in six plus years.

We will spend as much on interest as we will on the DoD budget.

I mean, we will we will actually, this is amazing, add a $1 trillion of debt over the next 100 days, and we're not even talking about it.

So I think that this is, one of those issues that people have avoided dealing with because you got to make some tough political calls.

And I think that's where I do have relevant experience in that the tough calls I made as governor, actually produced results with people's lives.

Gavin> So do you see that as being the biggest issue that you're running on for South Carolinians?

Gov.

Sanford> Totally.

I mean, again, because it affects every other issue.

You talk to a retiree in Sun City that said, I'm worried about Social Security.

I'm worried about Medicare.

Well, guess what?

What happens with regard to national numbers that's going to impact that?

You talk to somebody who is over at Shaw Air Force Base or McEntire or Fort Jackson, they would say, well, wait a minute.

We got a real problem in being able sustain our funding from a military standpoint.

Paul Kennedy wrote this book years ago, entitled " The Rise and Fall of Great Powers" , and it talked about how basically, you have to have economic supremacy to be able to maintain military supremacy.

Gavin> So when you talk about this and you talk about this concern, how do you, how do you tackle it?

Does that mean voting no, on budgets and spending packages?

Or how do you tackle that if you were to be in the Senate?

>> It's some of that, but it's the squeaky wheel to get grease in politics.

I mean, part of it's a process problem.

People will be handed an omnibus bill with a thousand pages, and they have no clue as to what's in it, and they're given 12 hours to vote on it.

So you have some process questions, you have some attention, sort of focus that's needed.

Again, squeaky wheels getting grease in politics.

And you have actual mechanisms that can make a difference.

I mean, when I was in Congress, that was the art of what's called the penny plan.

It's a map toward getting to a balanced budget.

If you look at what happened in Switzerland with the debt break, it's a map toward getting to a balanced budget.

So I think that you need somebody who I think has been in the trenches and has experience on this front.

I mean, again, the analogy I made a moment ago is you wouldn't hire an electrician to fix your roof.

This is something that I actually worked on and again, was able to produce results for people's lives.

Gavin> You were in Congress in 1994, in that way, with Senator Graham, you guys won at the same time.

He went to the Senate.

You went to the governor's mansion.

And then you went back to the House, as well.

So, looking at Senator Graham's legacy in his life and what he did, where do you see similarities between the two of you?

Where do you see some differences for folks trying to differentiate here?

Mark> I mean, the president joked the other day, he said,...Lindsey never saw a war he didn't like it with some, cute quip like that.

I'm probably less interventionist than Lindsey.

Again, he cared mightily about our nation's defense.

I'm probably more of a Teddy Roosevelt model of speak softly but carry a very big stick, and be very judicious in the use of force.

I would say similarities.

He was able to build bridges, across party lines.

And I think if we're going to get some of the big things that need getting done in Washington, you're going to have to do that.

Gavin> And then, just last question, governor, when it comes to term limits, where do you stand on term limits?

Gov.

Sanford> You know, I'm one of the few that walked at the end of six years, when I went to Congress in 1994.

A bunch of us said, hey, we believe in term limits, and then when they got to the end of the six years, they said, well, I'm fairly indispensable to our republic.

I laughed, I thought that was it for me in politics, got approached a couple years later about running for governor, and I think that our founding fathers wove in and out of, of, of politics, but they didn't stay in one spot.

And I think that, that change is vital.

I think it's destructive for the taxpayer and destructive for our political system.

When you have somebody sitting in one spot for 20, 30 years.

Gavin> So, would you do term limits?

Two terms?

Gov.

Sanford> Yeah.

Totally.

Absolutely.

Gavin> Two terms still imposed?

Gov.

Sanford> I believed in them, I would once again impose them upon myself.

Gavin> Okay.

Two terms?

Gov.

Sanford> Yes.

Gavin> Okay.

All right.

Governor, thanks so much.

Appreciate it.

Gov.

Sanford> Good to see you.

Yes, sir.

Gavin> Upstate businessman Mark Lynch received 28% percent of the vote in the June primary against Graham, and restarted his campaign following Graham's death.

Mark Lynch> Polling shows South Carolinians want a successful businessman, not another career politician or an attorney.

They want somebody that's dealt with the problems every day that we deal with.

And I know what that is, having run a business and competing against the big giants in the country and some of them that aren't here anymore, was Circuit City, H.H.

Gregg and Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards and Lechmere.

We're still here because we're fighters and we know how to deal with people and give good service.

I've served in the capacity and mission work.

I've served our employees.

I've served in the recovery industry.

I'm an ordained deacon in our church, and it's about serving others and I'm ready to take that servant's heart to D.C.

Gavin> So Mark, you also ran.

You came in second.

You got 30% of that primary back in June, running against the senator.

So obviously, you know why you want to run.

But tell me, reiterate for me why you want to run for the U.S.

Senate, what do you want to do up there.

Mark Lynch> Well, I'm running because I was called by South Carolinians when people met me, they've seen my leadership in the community and doing the things we've done.

In the national security realm since 2014, we've spent our own money and trained police and sheriffs and S.L.E.D agents and F.B.I.

people in seven counties in the upstate and put them through three day into action courses, with John Guandolo's organization.

He was the head of the anti-terrorism division after 9/11.

And he served with Phillip Haney, who was murdered after Obama pushed him out of Homeland Security as the director about the Islamic infiltration in South Carolina and in our country.

We're still seeing illegals coming in.

They're dropping them off at gas stations and unmarked busses, and it's about time we get somebody that doesn't talk about things, but is a man of action, like me.

That's the business, philosophy that I bring is to do things.

Stop talking, fix the problems.

Gavin> And the problems are, What do you see as the biggest problem?

The biggest issue?

Is it immigration for you.

Mark Lynch> That's one of the biggest.

Absolutely.

You know, when we have over I don't know, I hear numbers like 50 million, 25 million maybe might be more than number, We've got illegal aliens.

They're not immigrants.

They're illegal aliens that are coming into our country.

And we've got to have mass deportations.

So I support I.C.E.

You know, we've had a program for over 29 years called 287 G. And nobody's heard of that till last year.

What that program does is it allows local sheriffs and police to arrest, detain and deport illegal aliens and support I.C.E.

We're not doing that.

You know, that'll be a big, big help to our crumbling infrastructure and our highways and all the traffic that we're seeing and people that are killing people because they don't have proper driving instruction like our citizens do, and they're driving our trucks.

And so, yes, that's a big issue.

The other big issue we hear all across the state, after campaigning 15 months and driving thousands of miles, is affordability, inflation.

The young generations are concerned when they get out of college.

Number one, they're having people that are here on H-1B visas that will take their jobs for half the pay.

And it's like one Clemson student in the Republican club, said Mr.

Lynch, I appreciate your philosophy on the wall and the border and mass deportations, but when I get out, they'll take my pay, my job for half pay, and I was born in this country.

So we got to bring back what American First really means.

That's our, our theme of our campaign God, family, country, America First.

And the only way we can do that is to hire Americans, bring manufacturing back, protect our borders and deal with the national security threats right here at home.

Gavin> And would you term limit?

And what are your beliefs in term limits?

Mark Lynch> Yes.

I've signed the term limits pledge 100 percent.

Gavin> What's that look like?

Two terms?

Mark Lynch> That's two six year terms and that's it.

Gavin> All right.

Mark Lynch thank you very much.

Mark Lynch> Thank you.

Appreciate it.

<Thank you> Gavin> You can find these interviews and more at youtube.com/SCETV News for South Carolina ETV.

I'm Gavin Jackson.

Be well, South Carolina.

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