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RJC endorses Darline Graham to fill late brother’s Senate seat

“She will carry the fight forward and stand unwaveringly with the American Jewish community and strengthen the US-Israel relationship,” Sam Markstein told JNS.

U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
A view of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90.

The Republican Jewish Coalition endorsed Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.), who is completing her late brother Lindsey Graham’s term, after she announced her intention to run for the seat in November.

Sam Markstein, political director of the RJC, told JNS that “there’s nobody the late, great senator Lindsey Graham trusted more than his sister Darline.”

“We know she will carry the fight forward and stand unwaveringly with the American Jewish community and strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said.

Graham, whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called one of Israel’s “greatest friends,” died on July 11 at 71. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed the late senator’s sister to round out his term.

The RJC said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump “personally asked Darline Graham to enter this race and gave her his complete and total endorsement, urging,'Run, Darline. Run.’”

“Darline Graham steps forward at a moment of profound loss, after the passing of her brother, the great senator Lindsey Graham,” the RJC stated. “Sen. Lindsey Graham dedicated his life in service to our country and was the best friend of the Jewish people and for the cause of liberty in the U.S. Senate.”

The RJC urged voters to honor the late senator’s legacy by voting for his sister in the special Republican primary on Aug. 11.

Jessica Russak-Hoffman is a reporter for JNS in Seattle.
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