GOP panics after Graham challenger breaks fundraising record, and new poll shows 7-point gap

Jaimeharrison

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

October 22, 2019 - Dailykos.com 

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham may soon learn that his plan to convert himself into Trump’s bootlicker wasn’t such a hot idea after all. 

Although Graham is still currently the favorite to win in this safe Trump state, he is trending downward after several major embarrassments, with a historically low approval rating for an incumbent: 35%. Additionally, 58% said they want someone other than Graham representing them in the Senate. Although Graham remade himself into a sycophant, it has not helped him much as he tries to ride Trump’s coattails.

On the flip side, Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison has been steadily rising in the polls, with the latest national poll indicating that Harrison only trails Graham by seven points. 

Ouch.

It’s easy to discount that polling, of course—it was commissioned by The Collective PAC, which is devoted to electing more black people to office, and executed by Change Research, which has just a C+ rating on FiveThirtyEight. Yet other numbers don’t lie. This quarter, Harrison raised $2.1 million, which is the largest amount a Democratic Senate candidate has ever raised in South Carolina. That fundraising tally breaks the previous record of $1.5 million, which was set by—wait for it—Jaime Harrison … in the previous quarter. On top of that, most of Harrison’s funding comes from small donors, unlike Graham, with over 60,000 donors giving an average donation of $26. That grassroots support means that, unlike with large corporate donors, Harrison can return to the well several times.

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