Former President Donald Trump endorsed incumbent Rep. Ralph Norman from South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District for reelection on Monday through a statement from the Save America PAC.
“Ralph is a fierce advocate for our America First movement. He is working hard to Secure the Southern Border, Lower your Taxes, Support our Brave Military and Vets, Protect the Second Amendment, and hold the Radical Left accountable for their abject failure,” the former president wrote.
Norman was first elected in a 2017 special election after Mick Mulvaney left to become director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump and later to be promoted to White House chief of staff.
He faced a narrow Republican primary run-off that year to receive the party’s nomination, defeating state Rep. Tommy Pope by only around 200 votes.
Since then, Norman has been a close ally of Trump and was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. He notably called out former House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney last year after she defended her decision to vote in favor of impeaching the former president.
“But the other thing that bothers me, Liz, is your attitude. You’ve got a defiant attitude,” the congressman said of Cheney months before she was stripped of her leadership position.
Norman’s district was not competitive before the 2020 Census redistricting process and still is not, going from a partisan lean of R+23 to R+26, according to FiveThirtyEight.
The congressman is running unopposed in the 2022 Republican primary for District 5. Depending on who wins the Democratic primary, he will face either biologist Kevin Eckert or Evangeline Hundley in the November election, per Ballotpedia.
Independent Larry Gaither is also running for the seat.
via newsmax