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by WILL FOLKS
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The race for United States Senate in South Carolina hasn’t gone according to the script…
Having easily dispatched yet another GOP primary opponent in June, veteran U.S. senator Lindsey Graham was expected to cruise to another six-year term in our nation’s capital – extending a legacy of unsustainable profligacy at home and ill-conceived interventionism abroad.
Graham’s sudden death two-and-a-half months ago fundamentally changed the trajectory of the race, though… setting up a contentious Republican primary that laid bare the widening fissures within the Palmetto State’s so-called supermajority party.
Conservatives backed congressman Ralph Norman, while the GOP establishment went “all in” for Graham’s sister – Darline Graham Nordone. Tipping the scales in Nordone’s favor? The MAGA movement of U.S. president Donald Trump, which expended significant actual and political capital dragging her across the finish line during a bitter August 25, 2026 runoff election.
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Since that election, the wheels have come off for the GOP – with troves of Republicans rejecting Nordone’s nomination outright. Much to the chagrin of party leaders, a robust movement to write in Norman’s name on the fall ballot has emerged – threatening the GOP right flank. Meanwhile, Nordone’s general election opponent – Dr. Annie Andrews – has deftly outflanked her on the affordability front, securing growing support from centrist voters.
The result? A general election matchup that’s far closer than anyone ever imagined…
Adding another unforeseen element to this race? The emergence of a surprisingly credible libertarian nominee – one who has managed to qualify for an October 11, 2026 debate hosted by S.C. Educational Television (SCETV).
Kasie Whitener, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina business school, is running what she calls a “blue ocean strategy,” competing for votes in what she describes as “uncontested market space.” Next weekend, though, she’ll get the chance to bring her message to the statewide stage – appearing alongside Nordone and Andrews on the debate stage in Columbia, S.C.
“A lot of what we’ve been doing is in small towns, places where typically the big campaigns don’t come,” Whitener said during a sit-down interview in FITSNews‘ studio this week. “We’ve been to Barnwell, we’ve been to McCormick, we’re going to Abbeville, we’ve been down to Alcolu (in Clarendon County). We’ve been to Jasper County and Dorchester County, and we’re going to spaces that are uncontested market space because for us, South Carolina is an old state, and these are old families, people who’ve been here for a long time, who have deep roots in our state.”
Whitener has also focused her messaging on Gen Z voters, arguing government at all levels is currently being run at their expense – not for their benefit.
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RELATED | THE GOP’S GROWING DARLINE PROBLEM
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“We trust these people that we elect to do the right thing for us, and I think there’s some sentiment out there that we’re not being governed, we’re being looted,” she said.
She’s got that right…
Whitener also urged voters not to be fooled by the recent reemergence of the S.C. Democrat Party (SCDP).
“When it matters at the local level, if they can’t win, they don’t run,” she said, arguing the 2026 election cycle is the first time in years the party has fielded a full slate of candidates.
According to Whitener, Democrats showed their true colors after the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade and during the 2024 election cycle, when president Joe Biden withdrew from the race and vice president Kamala Harris was anointed as his successor by party insiders.
“When Roe v. Wade got overturned and it came back to the states, there was nobody in the State House representing that Democratic frame of mind because for several election cycles they had let Republicans run unopposed,” she said. “So this is the first time that they think they can win. But do not forget who they are. When they show you who they are, don’t forget. Don’t forget that they had an opportunity after Joe Biden made it clear that he was not the right candidate. They had a national convention, and they had the opportunity at national convention to make nominations from the floor and have a debate and figure out who their presidential candidate was going to be, and they didn’t do that. They anointed somebody and they pushed her forward. That is who the Democratic Party is. So don’t forget about that.”
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What does Whitener make of the ‘Write-in Ralph’ movement on the Republican side?
“I’m not going to try to dissuade them from something they feel passionate about,” she said. “And I understand feeling like that you’ve been let down. And if you did put a lot of time and money and effort into working on that campaign, and you feel like for whatever reason it didn’t go the way you wanted it to, then take matters in your own hands. Writing in a candidate is perfectly legitimate.”
Whitener has her work cut out for her. The high-water mark for a libertarian candidate this century in South Carolina is 2.34% – which was secured by presidential candidate Gary Johnson in the November 2016 election.
That’s obviously a long way from a plurality… but Whitener is confident her message and work ethic can carry the day.
“These other campaigns are not going to outwork me,” she said. “They might outspend me, but they’re not going to outwork me.”
To view my conversation with Whitener in its entirety, click here…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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