Free Republic

President Donald Trump on Monday urged South Carolina’s governor to appoint late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill his Senate seat through the rest of the year. Graham, 71, died unexpectedly on Saturday, leaving an opening for the seat through the end of his term. “I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!” Trump posted on TruthSocial. Under South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster has the authority to name an...

Cooper 48, Whatley 44

Lindsey Graham's death will kick off a breakneck campaign for his Senate seat Republicans face a sudden August primary to fill a full six-year term. By Alec Hernandez 07/12/2026 Lindsey Graham’s sudden, unexpected death will kick off a rapid campaign to pick the next likely senator from South Carolina — with a full six-year term on the line to replace the longtime senator. Graham was up for reelection in November, having just dispatched primary challenger Mark Lynch just over a month ago. He was set to face Democrat Annie Andrews, a doctor who fairly comfortably won the Democratic primary. Republicans...

Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died suddenly on Saturday night, his office said. Graham, a leading GOP foreign policy voice, was running for reelection this year. He had been a staunch ally of President Donald Trump on most matters but had broken with the president on some issues. Graham’s death narrows Republicans’ majority in the Senate, where they had held a 53-47 edge. Under South Carolina law, the state’s Republican governor can make an immediate appointment to fill Graham’s seat for the remainder of his term, which expires in January. The governor, Henry McMaster, said in...

We are two Muslim women who have each had a death warrant, a fatwa, placed on our heads—not for committing a crime, but for opposing the extremists who claim to speak for our faith. One of us, Anila, came to America from Pakistan and built a life here as a public school teacher. After September 11, Anila founded an organization to empower Muslim women and confront extremism. The other, Dalia, fled Egypt after Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Dalia was targeted for opposing the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and has spent the years since tracing the money...

The U.S. Senate campaign for state Rep. James Talarico says the Democratic nominee raised $30 million in the last three months, tripling the fundraising haul announced by his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton.The Talarico campaign announced it has taken in over $30 million since April, thanks to donations from “over 780,000 individuals” who donated to the campaign. “We’re uniting Texans onto one team to take on this broken, corrupt political system,” the campaign shared in a social media post on Wednesday.According to a campaign statement, the second-quarter total is the “largest amount ever raised by a U.S. Senate candidate in...

The Maine Democrat Party successfully pressured Graham Platner to step down. Not because of his Nazi tattoo or his alleged physical abuse of a former (Republican) girlfriend. It’s not even because he mocked a teenager’s failed suicide attempt. Heck, it’s not even because he suggested women who don’t want to be raped should “take some responsibility for themselves” and not get too drunk.It was only after a second ex-girlfriend (this one left-wing) came forward to allege a break-in and rape that Democrats suddenly decided he was not fit to represent their party.The ousting says less about Platner, however, and more...

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defended his decision to delay filing his financial disclosure forms, arguing that the process was “complicated” due to his wife’s family owning overseas assets. El-Sayed has been under fire from his Democratic primary opponent, Representative Haley Stevens, after he requested an extension to file his 2026 financial disclosures until after the Senate primary. Stevens has argued that voters should have access to the information in the disclosure before choosing a candidate. Speaking with journalist Mehdi Hasan, El-Sayed dismissed the criticism, saying the delay stemmed from complicated tax documents. “My wife and her family own...

Graham Platner is about to drop out. It’s not a question of if, but when he has lost all significant support. The news broke in a bombshell story claiming he allegedly raped a woman, Jenny Racicot, in 2021. Politico had the report; once it was published, everyone distanced themselves. The disturbing part is that we saw this coming because The New York Times’ piece was a whitewash. When Lyndsey Fifield shared her allegations of domestic abuse, no one paid attention because she worked for Republicans, but Racicot, a committed liberal, is what caused the situation with Platner to unravel. Only...

Yesterday, Graham Platner denied allegations made by Jenny Racicot of rape, but then announced that he would take some time to mull over his options. At the time, Platner had already cancelled his upcoming events before the July 13 deadline to withdraw his nomination as the Democrat candidate for US Senate from Maine. His withdrawal from the race appeared imminent, so much so that Polymarket actually shut down the betting pool on it.Well, it has been 24 hours since then, and ... all is quiet on the Totenkopf Front. Platner has lost almost every endorser in the race, and the...

Embattled U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner was hit with a second explosive allegation of sexual impropriety only about 24 hours after he was accused of rape — all while a major campaign decision deadline looms. In a new report published by The Washington Post, the candidate from Maine was accused of removing condoms during sex with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield after she explicitly directed him to wear them. "He would pull condoms off," she told The Washington Post. "He would do it in a sneaky way. He wouldn’t tell me." Fifield, 41, previously accused Platner of physical misconduct during their...

On the heels of Atlantic magazine's prominent writer Jonathan Chait panicking about communists taking over the Democrat party, he went full blast five days later on Monday torching the party enablers of Graham Platt in "With Graham Platner, Democrats Got Drunk on the Beer Test." Specifically Chait blasted those who performed the laughably lame vetting of Platner as well as those who continued to promote him despite the many scandals that erupted around him.Chait's first blast was directed at Morris Katz, whose unbelievably weak vetting of Platner in the first place ultimately led to the Democrats being in the unenviable...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As rumors continued to swirl throughout the nation's capital regarding his status, Senator Mitch McConnell's staff assured the public that his death would not prevent him from finishing his term. News broke last week that the longtime Kentucky senator had been hospitalized after being found unresponsive in his Washington, D.C., home. Despite the uncertainty about his well-being, however, McConnell's staff said he would be more than fit to serve the remainder of his term even if he were dead. "No one would know the difference," one McConnell staffer said. "Whether he's alive or not, the next several...

Maine Democratic candidate Graham Platner appears to be holding the Democratic Party hostage — refusing to drop out after he was accused of rape unless he gets to approve his successor to run for the Senate, The Post has learned. A source familiar with the campaign discussions said Platner, his campaign and political strategist Morris Katz are deliberating about the Maine Democrat dropping out but only if his replacement shares his left-wing values. And the clock is ticking for Dems — there’s a deadline of Monday for the 41-year-old oyster farmer to withdraw and be replaced on the ballot, according...

Good morning. For many Democrats, Graham Platner represented something much bigger than a fresh face to take on the seemingly unbeatable Republican Sen. Susan Collins. He was blue collar, progressive, and—seemingly—a true Mainer. For many, he seemed too good to be true. Maybe he was. On Monday, Politico dropped a bombshell report about a past girlfriend alleging sexual misconduct by Platner. Platner denied the report, but—for the first time—suggested he might be exiting the race against Collins. “Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect...

Nearly a dozen members of the wealthy Soros family collectively poured more than $1.6 million to Congressional candidates’ midterm campaigns so far, The Post has learned. The donations suggest the clan’s grip on American politics extends even beyond patriarch George Soros and his son Alex, who took control of his father’s $25 billion empire ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Topping the list of the other members of the clan was George’s son from his first marriage, Jonathan Soros and his wife Jennifer Allan Soros, who together donated $380,000 to House and Senate races all over the country. Jonathan, 55,...

Democrats are competitive in six key Senate battlegrounds, but Republicans still hold the edge in the fight for the upper chamber, according to new polling from The New York Times and Siena. The New York Times/Siena Polls found Democrats leading the Senate races in North Carolina, where Democrat Roy Cooper is battling Republican Michael Whatley to replace retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and in Maine, where progressive Graham Platner hopes to oust Sen. Susan Collins (R). Cooper boasts the biggest lead among the six battlegrounds surveyed, with 50 percent to Whatley’s 43 percent. Platner, at 49 percent, was up 2...

NEW YORK CITY — According to sources, a radical Islamist terrorist felt torn between two possible career paths: leading the next violent jihad against the infidels or becoming a Democratic senator of the United States. Abdullah bin Khalid Al-Makki reportedly took time off from his busy schedule to give serious thought to his future. Would he lead an Islamic Jihad with the goal of killing millions, or become a Democrat and get elected to the American Senate with the goal of killing millions? "Decisions, decisions," said Al-Makki, holding his bazooka. "There are pros and cons. It will take a lot...

The House Freedom Caucus is publicly calling on the Senate to return to work, as the upper chamber is now in a two-week Independence Day recess. President Donald Trump and many Republicans still want to find a way for the SAVE America Act to get passed in the Senate. “The Senate sucks. I’m just going to come out and say it - they suck. This is not hard!” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) said during a Thursday news conference. The federal elections bill already cleared the House, but it is struggling for support among a handful of Republicans and all Democrats...

Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) has introduced a resolution to repeal the 17th Amendment. The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution established the direct election of U.S. senators in each state. Before, senators were appointed by state legislatures. The 17th Amendment reads: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. When vacancies happen in the representation of...