Polls show that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham will finish one of the tightest races for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina on Tuesday, just ahead of Democrat Jaime Harrison.
Graham, who has served as a senator since 2003, faces a tough re-election. Harrison, a former functionary of the Democratic National Committee, gained national attention and increasing popularity in the historically red state. Real Clear Politics changed its forecast for the race from “lean GOP” to “toss-up” on September 27.
The latest survey, conducted by Data for Progress from October 27 to November 1, found that Graham has a three-point lead over Harrison, with a 49 to 46 percent lead. The Republican saw his chances increasing since last week’s poll, in which the two candidates were level and both received 46 percent voter support.
A Morning Consult poll conducted between October 22 and 31 revealed that Graham led by a narrow margin, with 46 percent of voters saying they would support him compared to the 44 percent who voted for Harrison. A survey conducted by East Carolina University on October 24 and 25 also found that Graham led by two points and 49 percent of voters supported him, compared with the 47 percent who voted for Harrison.
Polling stations close at 7 p.m. on election day in South Carolina. According to the U.S. Election Project, more than 1.3 million residents have already sent in their ballots.
Harrison fought hard in his attempt to sack Graham, and by October 14, Harrison had raised a record $131 million for his campaign. At that time Graham had raised only $78 million. Donors continued to pour more and more money into Harrison’s campaign, as the possibility that South Carolina could change the Democrat’s mind grew.
Graham seemed to have noticed this, as he recently appeared on television in public begging for more money for his supporters. During an interview with Laura Ingraham of Fox News on October 27, Graham appealed to viewers for donations twice, once at the beginning and again at the end of the interview.
“The left is going crazy,” Graham told Ingraham. “You need to go on the Internet right now. My opponent has raised more money than anyone else in the entire history of the U.S. Senate because I’ve been with Kavanaugh and Barrett and helping Trump.
When Ingraham signed off on the interview, Graham tried again to ask the audience for help, but was interrupted in the middle of the sentence when he started to give out his website address.
Lindsey Graham tried to beg for money a second time in an interview and was cut off from pic.twitter.com/SqSHt7Vwz5.
– Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 28, 2020
His campaign has repeatedly accused Harrison of using donations from other states to buy the election. Graham’s Director of Campaign Communications, T.W. Arrighi, claimed in an October 22 tweet that Harrison “burned $60 million in the last quarter when he tried to buy a Senate seat from his basement.
