GOP Digest — August 21, 2026 | Trump Rallies Myrtle Beach for Darline Graham as Vance Works the Rust Belt

Two of the party's biggest draws are on the road today. President Donald Trump lands in Myrtle Beach tonight for the closing argument in South Carolina's Senate runoff, while Vice President JD Vance takes the Republican economic message back to the steel plant where his grandfather spent nearly 40 years.

Today's Digest

• [SENATE] — Trump rallies Myrtle Beach tonight for Darline Graham ahead of Tuesday's runoff: Trump will headline an evening rally at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center for Graham, appointed to her late brother Lindsey Graham's seat by Gov. Henry McMaster and running with Trump's endorsement for a full six-year term. Graham led the Aug. 11 special primary with 32.8 percent to Rep. Ralph Norman's 24.6 percent in a 10-candidate field, short of the majority needed to win outright. Trump carried South Carolina by nearly 18 points in 2024, and the Republican nominee is favored in November against Democrat Annie Andrews.
• [PRIMARIES] — The runoff has become a live test of Trump's endorsement in a deep-red state: Trump pressed "RUN DARLINE, RUN" on social media and gave Graham his "Complete and Total Endorsement" before she formally announced, a move some South Carolina Republicans criticized as a "coronation" of a candidate with no political experience. Norman, 73, a real estate developer with nearly a decade in the House, has former Gov. Nikki Haley in his corner. Rep. Russell Fry, whose Myrtle Beach-area district hosts tonight's rally, finished third in the special primary and endorsed Graham.
• [GROUND GAME] — Vance takes the manufacturing message to Middletown, Ohio: The vice president speaks Friday at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works plant — the former Armco Steel, where his grandfather James Vance worked nearly 40 years — joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Trump and Vance took about 62 percent of the vote in Middletown's precincts in 2024. Vance is expected to expand his travel schedule with more public events and fundraisers, starting with a Monday stop in Brewer, Maine, for former Gov. Paul LePage's competitive House bid against Democrat Matt Dunlap.
• [SENATE] — Republicans flag data-center backlash as the live risk to Jon Husted in Ohio: The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo this week that opposition to data centers has left Husted vulnerable, with Democrat Sherrod Brown airing ads casting the appointed senator as the "face of data centers in Ohio." Ohio has trended firmly Republican in the Trump era, and Vivek Ramaswamy leads the ticket for governor in a state Democrats have not carried for that office in two decades.
• [SENATE] — Mike Rogers courts crossover Democrats in Detroit: Rogers held a press conference in Detroit with supporters who still identify as Democrats, led by state Rep. Karen Whitsett, who said she was a lifelong Democrat until March. Whitsett went after Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed's support for replacing private insurance with Medicare for All: "You say you don't want government in your business. Well, the government will be controlling your healthcare." Fox 2 Detroit's Roop Raj noted "Democrats for Rogers" signs turning up across the state.
• [DEM-WATCH] — Progressive Aisha Wahab wins the seat Eric Swalwell left behind as the probe into him continues: California state Sen. Wahab won Thursday's CA-14 special election over BART Director Melissa Hernandez and will finish Swalwell's term through January. Swalwell quit his governor's race and resigned from Congress in April after sexual assault and harassment accusations he denies; over the weekend federal agents seized his electronic devices at the San Francisco airport and later searched his Washington home. Groups affiliated with AIPAC spent millions backing Hernandez and still came up short.

On the Record

I don't speak politician. I was just honest. And I think that's kind of a foreign concept.

— Sen. Darline Graham, defending her debate answer on national security in a Fox News interview ahead of Tuesday's South Carolina Republican runoff