Jaime Harrison, the Democrat difficult Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, raised a record-breaking $57 million final quarter in his bid to u
Jaime Harrison, the Democrat difficult Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, raised a record-breaking $57 million final quarter in his bid to upset one in every of President Donald Trump’s strongest allies in Congress.
In response to Harrison’s marketing campaign, it was the single-largest fundraising complete over three months for any Senate candidate ever, topping the $38 million Beto O’Rourke raised within the third quarter of 2018 when he was working in opposition to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
The 2 candidates had been working even of their fundraising on the finish of June, the deadline for his or her final quarterly fundraising report. Graham pulled in $29.9 million (and spent $15.four million of it) whereas Harrison on the time had raised $28.6 million (and spent round $18 million). Graham’s marketing campaign has not but reported its third-quarter fundraising complete.
Harrison’s unexpectedly robust problem in opposition to Graham has been pushed by the sort of grassroots assist mirrored in his exceptional fundraising. In response to his marketing campaign, the $57 million got here from practically 1 million particular person donors who averaged $37 per contributions (a few of them made repeat donations).
Prepare dinner Political Report moved the race into the “toss up” class in the previous few days. The three most up-to-date polls present the race successfully tied when you account for the margin of error (Harrison leads by one level in a single survey, Graham leads by one in one other, and the 2 are tied within the third). It’s a putting flip for a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998 (long-time incumbent Fritz Hollings) and that Trump carried by 14 factors in 2016.
Trump’s present weak point within the state (polls present him main Biden by a a lot smaller quantity than his 2016 margin) and Graham’s struggles to shore up conservative voters have made the race extra aggressive than anyone anticipated at first of the 12 months.
“This race has earned a extra aggressive ranking — underscoring simply how briskly the GOP majority is slipping away in the event that they need to defend turf like this,” Jessica Taylor, an analyst for Prepare dinner, wrote, “and in addition how a lot Trump’s numbers have fallen throughout the board.”
Harrison, a 44-year-old former state social gathering chair, started gaining floor earlier this 12 months by airing constructive tv adverts centered on his biography. He has additionally taken Graham to process over well being care; the Republican authored one of many Senate’s Obamacare repeal payments that may have led to thousands and thousands of individuals dropping protection, in line with Congressional Funds Workplace estimates.
Covid-19 looms over the race as properly, with Graham pointedly refusing to get examined forward of his most up-to-date scheduled debate with Harrison. (The candidates ended up doing separate interviews with the talk moderators as a substitute.)
Graham has portrayed Harrison as a device for the novel left and has labored to emphasise his personal significance because the Senate Judiciary Committee chair. He’s additionally seized on the Supreme Court docket nomination of Choose Amy Coney Barrett to attempt to rally Republican voters to his facet. Graham has proven a palpable sense of desperation in latest weeks, notably with respect to fundraising, happening Sean Hannity’s Fox Information present in September and asking the host and his viewers to “assist me.”
South Carolina remains to be a basically Republican state, although it’s experiencing the identical sort of demographic shift that’s making Georgia and North Carolina battleground states. In the long run, the percentages are in all probability in opposition to Harrison; Sabato’s Crystal Ball nonetheless charges the race as Lean Republican. Democrats don’t want South Carolina to win a Senate majority (Maine, Colorado, Arizona, and North Carolina are all extra doubtless targets) however the competitiveness of the Graham-Harrison match-up is an effective indicator of the favorable nationwide surroundings for the minority social gathering.
And this big windfall of money within the closing weeks of the marketing campaign may assist push Harrison nearer to an upset.
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