elections are still happening
Lindsey Graham keeps breaking fundraising records. His Democratic challenger still outraised him.
Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) re-election is looking less and less like a given.
Graham showed some serious fundraising strength at the end of 2019, raising a single-quarter South Carolina record $3.9 million. He beat that record again in the first quarter of 2020 — but then his Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison raised even more, fundraising records released Wednesday night show.
Graham raised $5.6 million in the first three months of 2020, and Harrison, the former chair of South Carolina's Democratic party and associate chair of the Democratic National Convention, brought in $7.36 million. That leaves Harrison with $8 million in the bank to continue his challenge against Graham, and puts Graham's war chest at $12.8 million, The Post and Courier reports.
"We're so grateful for this outpouring of support from everyday people who are looking for leadership that puts them first," a Harrison spokesperson told The Post and Courier. Graham's campaign meanwhile noted that his haul came even though the senator canceled fundraisers while he led the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.
Still, the few South Carolina Senate polls out there indicate Graham maintains a safe lead. A Marist College poll taken in late February shows Graham with a 17 point lead over Harrison, though there are still seven months to go until Election Day.