South Carolina Senate Race Revisited: Lindsey Graham

Back in early August, I wrote in this space about Senator Lindsey Graham – a dear personal friend of mine and a champion of the causes RJC members believe in – who is facing a real race from Democrat Jamie Harrison. I noted that Lindsey was being outraised by Harrison thanks to a massive effort by the challenger to appeal to out-of-state liberals, who are still furious about Senator Graham's strong defense of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Since then, the race in the Palmetto State has only intensified. All the public polls of the race released in September showed the candidates within the margin of error - tied or separated by just one or two percent. National Democrat super-PACs have announced major investments to supplement Harrison's spending. And now liberals nation-wide are even more fired up because Senator Graham, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has vowed to secure prompt approval of President Trump's nominee Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Senator Graham remains confident that he better represents South Carolinians' values. He recently told a reporter, "It's a center-right state, and [Harrison is] on the wrong side of a bunch of issues that matter... but we've got to take it seriously. We've got to match him money-wise."

It is still hard to believe a state as conservative as South Carolina would replace a mainstream pro-Israel conservative leader with a J Street-endorsed liberal Democrat, but in this year's unpredictable political environment it is a real risk. Senator Graham's friends need to come through to help him make his case - and there's no time to waste.

The RJC PAC has endorsed Lindsey Graham. You can help him win by clicking here to support his campaign.

Please watch this space for more in-depth analysis on individual races in the critical 2020 elections. If you’d like to share your thoughts with me on any of these races, please email me at [email protected]. Click here to see previous "Notes from Norm."