Solar company executives and supporters spending $1 million to defeat hard-right Republican Rep. Ralph Norman in his campaign for Senate could see their work backfire.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition — a political action committee backed by the clean energy industry — announced last week that it would campaign against Norman in the GOP primary runoff next week for South Carolina’s open Senate seat. The investment comes after the PAC spent big to unseat Rep. Andy Ogles (R) in Tennessee this month
But Norman and his allies have been working to discredit the group, arguing it’s part of the Washington liberal establishment. They’re also mobilizing to tie the PAC with his opponent, Sen. Darline Graham, sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R).
“If you look at who’s funding her campaign, it’s the Washington swamp. It’s the elite. They just took out a $1 million attack ad against me,” Norman said in a Saturday interview with WCNC-TV the day after POLITICO first reported the PAC spending.
South Carolina’s Republican governor appointed Darline Graham to fill her brother’s Senate seat following his death. She’s now seeking the nomination to serve a full term with the support of President Donald Trump. But the president’s backing wasn’t enough for her to win the primary outright, and Norman is running an aggressive campaign.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition is less backing her than opposing Norman. Their goal has been to punish some of the most ardent opponents of renewable energy on Capitol Hill.
The group’s advertising campaign doesn’t say anything about clean energy, let alone disclose the sector that paid for it. Instead, it says Norman “betrayed” Trump and the Make America Great Again movement by endorsing Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential campaign.
“Trump doesn’t want Ralph Norman to be South Carolina’s senator. Why would we,” the voice-over asks.
The group used similar tactics against Ogles and Republican Rep. Chip Roy in his unsuccessful campaign for Texas attorney general. Invest in Tomorrow was also active against Norman in his unsuccessful race for governor.
Solar investor and billionaire Chris Larsen has been the group’s biggest donor, providing $6 million of its $6.8 million. As a super PAC, it can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.
Tom Matzzie, chair of the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition and a solar executive, said of the latest ads, “It’s about stopping Norman, but it’s also about sending a message to other members of Congress that if they try to hurt the industry, we’re going to fight back.”
‘Only helps his narrative’
Despite the ads not being obviously tied to renewable energy, Invest in Tomorrow Coalition’s strategy could feed into Norman’s campaign, argued Brent Nelsen, a political analyst and professor at Furman University who’s been following the campaign.
“To the extent that they are fighting against Ralph Norman, I think that only helps his narrative. He’s trying to paint Darline as an unknown quantity at best and a liberal at worst,” Nelsen said.
“So the calculation is, if a voter finds out renewable energy is backing Darline — or at least working against Norman — then that just fits the narrative,” he continued.
Ogles and Roy also tried to use the group’s liberal connections to their favor. Ogles called Larsen “some libtard in California that’s a billionaire” and pointed out his more than $10 million in contributions to a super PAC supporting Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign.
And Roy wrote on X, “A group out of California is bankrolling attack ads against me [because] I dared to fight the Green New Scam and protect the Hill Country.”
Both Ogles and Roy lost their respective primaries. But this time, Norman is getting support from allies in his battle against the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition.
The Freedom Caucus Fund, which is affiliated with the House Freedom Caucus, posted a photo on X of Matzzie with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee.
“Meet Tom Matzzie, the lifelong left-wing Democrat running the ‘green’ Democrat PAC called ‘Invest in Tomorrow,’ funded by a San Francisco liberal who gave Kamala $12 million, spending on behalf of Darline Graham and against Ralph Norman in South Carolina,” the Freedom Caucus Fund wrote, saying that while Norman won’t support renewable energy subsidies, “Darlene [sic] probably will.”
Graham has not indicated support for green energy credits that Norman, Roy and Ogles all fought to repeal in last year’s Republican signature legislation — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Conservative radio host John Fredericks joined in with a video on the subject. “All the dark money, all the Democrats’ money, all the [Lisa] Murkowski money, you know where it leads? Darline Graham,” he said.
‘Appreciative of all the support’
Asked about all the super PAC spending in her favor, Graham noted that she has no control over the groups and what they do, but welcomed the support.
“Anybody who wants to support me, I’m honored to have their support, obviously. I know it takes a lot of money to run a campaign … so I’m appreciative of all support,” she told Fox Carolina News.
Graham also brought up Norman’s work against the green energy tax credits in a Tuesday debate the two participated in hosted by Newsmax, framing it as a snub to Trump. Conservatives wanting a faster end of renewable energy incentives were among the complicating factors in passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“It’s my understanding that you were the holdout on the Big Beautiful Bill and Trump had to call you in and convince you to [vote for] it,” she said.
Norman said, “The subsidies for electric cars are dumb. The subsidies for passive solar and wind are stupid. I was cutting it out, and we made it better. He agreed. And so we got it passed. And I would do that over again.”