SHOCK POLL: NY Times Finds Trump-Backed Darline Graham ‘Effectively Tied’ With Dem Rival
The race for Senate in the Republican stronghold of South Carolina has become a nail-biter with less than a week until the midterms.
Darline Graham's(R) bid to succeed her brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, is on a razor's edge with a new poll from The New York Times /Siena Wednesday deeming her contest against Annie Andrews(D) "effectively tied."
The Palmetto State has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate "in this century," The Times noted.
Graham, 62, was appointed to fill her brother's seat after his shocking death in July at age 71.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly backed Graham even after her notorious primary debate flub in which she admitted she was " not that informed on national security ."
Trump has repeatedly gone on the offensive against Andrews, 45, using a transgender slur to refer to the pediatrician. Andrews is not transgender.
The latest poll surveyed 707 voters in South Carolina from Oct. 19 to Oct. 26.
Trump galloped through South Carolina on his way to his second stint in the White House, winning the state by 18 points, The Times reported.
Independent voters and a key block of Republican voters appear to be powering Andrews' rise.
Of those surveyed, 57% of Independents said they backed Andrews while 7% of Republican voters said they will vote for the Democrat.
Yet the poll found one factor that works in Graham's favor: Voters know who she is.
Nearly a quarter of those asked said they'd not heard of Andrews or couldn't give an opinion of the pediatrician.
Lindsey Graham was a nationally known politician whom South Carolina voters sent to the U.S. Senate four times, beginning in 2002 when he succeeded Strom Thurmond. Before the Senate, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The poll is indicative of a still-unsettled political map for Republicans , who have been forced to spend money and time rallying their supporters in normally safe states.
The post SHOCK POLL: NY Times Finds Trump-Backed Darline Graham 'Effectively Tied' With Dem Rival first appeared on Mediaite .
