The Cook Political Report, an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns, as well as American political trends – shifted the South Carolina Senate race from “lean Republican” in favor of incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) to a “toss-up,” giving Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison a huge boost just weeks before the election.
Earlier this year, the Cook Report signaled that Graham would “cruise to reelection,” however, on Wednesday, they described Harrison as the “Democrats’ best recruit and a fundraising behemoth.” Apparently, the senate race in the Palmetto State is a close tie, according to three recent polls, and Graham is being outspent by his contender.
And it seems Graham can’t quite come up to par with Harrison, “a charismatic 44-year-old African-American former state party chairman who tells a compelling story of growing up with a teen mother and being raised by his grandparents in impoverished Orangeburg — seriously enough from the get-go,” Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors editor for The Cook Political Report, wrote in her latest analysis.
And it seems that Graham may have been a little too sure he would cruise to his fourth winning election this time around, so much so that it didn’t occur to him that Democrats also had money to spend on candidates. On Thursday, September 25, in a Fox News interview, Senator Graham said, “I’m being killed financially,” when talking about his campaign.
Graham made a plea for donations, prompting Democratic opponent Jaime Harrison to tweet, “Anybody else get the sense that (Graham) just realized he’s going to lose on November 3rd?”
Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is at the forefront of the Republican effort to get a conservative judge on the bench to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her death prompted a spike in fundraising for Democratic lawmakers, and Graham realized this almost too late.
Graham actually had more cash for his campaign at the end of June, reporting $15 million in cash reserves compared to Harrison’s $10.2 million. But graham pointed out that within 72 hours of Ginsburg’s death, Harrison had raised $6 million.
Another point in the Democrat’s favor occurred when Harrison and Graham faced off in their first Senate debate this week. The two were separated onstage by a plexiglass barrier Harrison brought as he repeatedly evoked the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state.
“Even some Republicans privately concede it was Harrison, not Graham, who came out looking stronger from that showdown,” according to Cook Political Report. But the report also notes that Graham does have “one remaining Hail Mary,” and that is the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett.
