This week on the Hill: Georgia, South Carolina special elections draw focus

Lawmakers are fanning out across their districts and states for fundraisers, local events and campaign stops as the midterm elections heat up, while national party leaders are increasingly wading into races that could help shape control of Congress.

In Georgia, voters are heading back to the polls Tuesday for a special election runoff to fill the vacancy left by the death of longtime Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who died in April at age 80.

The runoff pits the late congressman’s daughter Marcye Scott (D) against Everton Blair Jr. (D), former Gwinnett County School Board chair. Marcye Scott garnered roughly 48 percent of the vote in the July primary, while Blair received about 35.6 percent, sending the two Democrats into Tuesday’s runoff, according to Decision Desk HQ .

The political spotlight will also turn to South Carolina, where Republicans are set for a closely watched Senate primary runoff between interim Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).

Darline Graham — who was appointed to fill the seat belonging to her late brother, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), and is running for a full term — has been in the spotlight in recent days after she said during a debate last week that she’s “not that informed on national security.”

And on the courts front, expect President Trump’s hush money conviction to be back in the spotlight. The judge mulling the president’s long-running bid to move his appeal out of New York’s state courts has newly indicated he expects to rule by Friday.

Trump wants to fight his conviction in federal court in the hopes of ultimately tossing it on presidential immunity grounds.

Democratic candidates vie in Georgia special election runoff: Marcye Scott, the late Rep. David Scott’s (D-Ga.) daughter; and Everton Blair Jr., former Gwinnett County School Board chair; will go head-to-head Tuesday.

President Trump backs Darline Graham: Trump is hoping to use his influence to convince GOP primary voters to choose Sen. Darline Graham over Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina’s Senate primary runoff.

Federal district judge to decide on hush money case: A federal judge will determine whether to move Trump’s appeal out of the New York state courts.

Georgia special election runoff puts late congressman’s daughter in focus

Marcye Scott previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she saw the special election to fill her late father’s seat as a way to carry on his legacy.

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) was first elected to Congress in 2002 and rose to prominence in 2021 when he became the first Black lawmaker to serve as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. He has been hailed by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who characterized Scott as “a trailblazer” on Capitol Hill.

Georgia’s 13th Congressional District, a blue stronghold that David Scott had easily defended for decades, covers portions of six counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

The winner of the Aug. 25 runoff will represent the seat through the end of 2026.

Marcye Scott and Blair were two of three Democrats on the ballot in July, alongside former Judge Carlos Moore. Two Republicans also ran for the seat: Caesar Gonzales and Fayth Park. A fourth Democrat, Tony Brown, appeared on the ballot but had been disqualified.

Marcye Scott has been endorsed by Democratic Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.) and Maxine Waters (Calif.), while Blair has been endorsed by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.).

Both candidates have centered their campaigns around affordability, a key issue in the midterms amid rising grocery prices, gas costs and inflation.

Blair wrote on social media that he launched his campaign because he believes in building a district “where housing is affordable, healthcare is accessible, schools are fully funded, and families aren’t stretched thin just trying to get by.”

Marcye Scott, meanwhile, has championed infrastructure investment, protection of veteran programs and benefit, and workforce development.

Graham, Norman go head-to-head in South Carolina runoff

Trump-backed Darline Graham is set to face off against Norman, who’s been endorsed by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), in the Senate primary runoff Tuesday.

Questions about whether Darline Graham is experienced enough to serve in the Senate roared to life after she flubbed a national security question. Norman told Kellie Meyer of NewsNation that Darline Graham’s debate response was “serious.”

But Darline Graham later told Fox News that, “I have said many times I’m not a politician, certainly not a career politician. I don’t speak politician.”

Trump stumped for Darline Graham in Myrtle Beach, which is home to former Senate candidate Rep. Russell Fry’s (R-S.C.) district. Fry did not advance out of the initial Republican primary election to replace Lindsey Graham, making his support base critical for both Norman and Darline Graham.

Graham has been backed by other prominent Republicans, including Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and the state’s lieutenant governor, Pamela Evette.

Sanford, meanwhile, endorsed Norman last week, arguing that “the stakes are simply too high as our nation really is at a financial tipping point.”

“I have seen first hand his experience in legislative circles, matched by a conservative voting record and conservative stands. And all of this brings me to a binary choice, not only on the bigger question of less government and more freedom, but on who do I believe holds the best shot at holding the line on government spending, our debt and its accompanying deficits? I am freaked about this issue given our crossing of the $40 trillion federal debt mark this week. It has heinous implications for all of us,” the former South Carolina governor wrote on social media.

Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote in a social media post that “the Senate has become a place where good legislation goes to die, and as we elect our next U.S. Senator, we NEED a PROVEN conservative to take up the mantle and fight!”

“I’m the only candidate in this race with the experience and the resume to take on this job, and I look forward to representing the Palmetto State in the United States Senate!” he added.

Trump hush money case in the spotlight again

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein indicated last week that he expects to issue a decision on whether to move Trump’s appeal in his hush money case out of the New York state courts.

Trump wants to move the case so he can try to convince a federal judge that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling compels tossing the jury’s 34-count guilty verdict.

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money scheme to keep quiet his alleged affair with porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has long argued he cannot get a fair shake in New York’s state court system and has repeatedly attacked the judge and jury that decided the case.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled November last year that it “cannot be confident” a lower judge adequately considered Trump’s arguments as he sought to move the case.

“The court bypassed what we consider to be important issues bearing on the ultimate issue of good cause,” the panel wrote.

The panel emphasized it has no view on whether Trump’s strategy should ultimately succeed, only that the lower judge needs to reconsider his prior ruling.

“We leave it to the able and experienced District Judge to decide whether to solicit further briefing from the parties or hold a hearing to help it resolve these issues,” the panel wrote then.