Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, is embroiled a tight race with Democratic opponent Jaime Harrison, and things are not looking good for the incumbent Republican.
Graham and Harrison running neck and neck at 48 percent each, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of the state released this week.
But Democrats are feeling increasingly optimistic about their chances of unseating Graham after a recent slate of favorable polling and a massive cash windfall building behind Harrison’s Senate campaign.
Harrison has pulled in a staggering $2 million in the last two days, adding to an already massive $10.6 million haul in August alone. And in a sign that national Democrats are eyeing the race with greater enthusiasm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced a new seven-figure cash injection in the state.
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“There’s a lot of momentum on the ground here and it’s so great and it’s so encouraging,” Harrison said in an interview on Friday. “When I first got into this race and people told me that I couldn’t do this, my whole statement to them is ‘Watch me,’ and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The combined weight of the recent polling and Harrison’s staggering fundraising totals has fueled optimism among Democrats, who see in South Carolina a chance to widen their path to a Senate majority in November.
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday evening injected further uncertainty into the race. On Saturday, Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pointed to previous statements he’d made to the press over the past several months signaling he was prepared to advance a nominee this year.
Graham’s comments came after a video circulated Friday night showing him at the Atlantic Festival in 2018 telling the forum that he would wait until the next election if an opening on the Supreme Court happened after the primaries.
Democrats will likely seize on Graham’s past remarks as the battle over Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat unfolds. McConnell vowed on Friday to hold a vote on Trump’s eventual nominee, while Trump has vowed to swiftly name a successor to Ginsburg.
