GOP party fissures exposed in battle for Lindsey Grahams SC Senate seat

The five GOP candidates that appeared in South Carolina’s U.S.Senate debate on Monday evening touched on several key issues of national importance as they made their case to fill the seat of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who died while in office last month.Although candidates remained united on broad issues of party consensus, the debate exposed a fraying of opinion on topics like the war in Iran, U.S.

government spending, the filibuster and data center expansion, highlighting the influence of even just one Senate seat.The candidates include Sen.Darlene Graham Nordone, R-S.C., Rep.

Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Rep.Russel Fry, R-S.C., businessman Mark Lynch and former South Carolina Gov.

Mark Sanford.The biggest clash of the night came from Graham’s own sister, the appointee currently filling his seat.Nordone, who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, announced she would vote to end the filibuster — a procedural hurdle that prevents the chamber from passing most legislation without 60 votes.Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the chamber.“And I am all for — this is where I differ from my brother — getting rid of the filibuster to get this done, because eventually the Democrats are going to get rid of it anyway,” Nordone said, noting the major break with her late brother.While supporters of the filibuster argue it prevents parties from strong-arming their views into law without bipartisan input, acting as one of the country’s last bastions of moderation, the rule has throttled several Republican priorities called for by President Donald Trump, including national voter identification legislation.Mark Sanford, another candidate who formerly served as governor of South Carolina, also touched on a topic of controversy on Monday by alluding that Congress — not the president’s discretion — should set the direction for the war in Iran.“Only Congress has the authority to declare war.

This decision needs to be made by Congress ...