(The Center Square) – Five challengers on Tuesday will try to unseat U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina’s Republican primary.
Turning 71 five days after America turns 250, he’s hopeful of a fifth term and has the backing despite some past differences with mercurial second-term Republican President Donald Trump. The latest polling, from The Citadel, casts him with a 10% lead on 2020 state Senate candidate Mark Lynch.
Other polls say the gap is wider.
South Carolina will elect a U.S. senator; all seven representatives to the U.S. House; eight executive offices led by the governor; and all 124 members of the state House of Representatives. State senators are on four-year terms on a cycle parallel to the presidential races; the lower chamber has two-year terms.
Graham has been in the Beltway since first winning election – first of four terms – to the House of Representatives in 1994. He began his tenure in the Senate in 2002. In this 119th Congress, he’s chairman of the Committee on the Budget and has seats on committees for appropriations; environment and public works; and the judiciary.
His time in the 116th, from January 2019 to January 2021, included chairmanship of the Committee on the Judiciary. Confirmations sailed through for Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, and more than 200 federal judges appointed by Trump.
Lynch, defeated by Scott Talley 52.8%-47.2% in the state Senate District 12 primary six years ago, helped direct his father’s appliance business into the top 100 in the nation in sales volume. His campaign takes aim at a number of Graham’s actions while in Congress.
The Citadel Poll, taken May 21-31, of 1,505 registered voters carries a +/- 3.2% margin of error. Graham led Lynch 46%-36%, with 18% unsure and no other candidates listed. Calvin Cowen, Thomas Dismukes, Patrick Hermann and Darius Mitchell are also on the Republican ballot.
In a poll by the Trafalgar Group released a week earlier, Graham led 52%-28%. In another May poll, by InsiderAdvantage, Graham led 56%-13%.
Annie Andrews, in The Citadel poll for the Democratic primary, led Brandon Brown 45%-14%. Kyle Freeman (5%) is also on the ballot. Thirty-six percent were unsure.
In the U.S. House primaries, Republicans will choose a new candidate for the 1st Congressional District with Rep. Nancy Mace opting to run for governor. Ten candidates are in the field. In the 5th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman is also choosing a run for governor and Wes Climer is unchallenged.
Incumbent Republican Reps. Sheri Biggs (3rd) and Russell Fry (7th) are not challenged Tuesday.
The breakdown from the state in the House is six Republicans and one Democrat. Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, just over a month away from his 86th birthday, is challenged by Frederick Goodwin in the 6th Congressional District in his bid for an 18th term.
