Can anyone challenge Graham for U.S. Senate? Here’s what early indicators show.

What do many Democrats, the Clemson College Republicans and South Carolina’s Freedom Caucus have in common?

As Democrats and South Carolina’s far right look for someone to unseat longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, challengers have struggled to pick up the money and endorsements to do so.

Ahead of the Republican primary, Graham has raised $11 million more than the closest GOP candidate this election cycle, according to recent campaign finance filings. Graham has been fundraising longer than any other candidates. While Democrat Annie Andrews raised more than Graham in the third quarter, her war chest is still $1.2 million to his $14.5 million at the end of September.

Graham also has the coveted endorsement of President Donald Trump, a factor that helps win over Republican voters, said Drew McKissick, South Carolina’s Republican Party chair, in a September interview with The State.

“For Senate seats and congressional seats, they’re looking for someone who’s conservative and, in more recent times, and supports President Trump and his agenda,” McKissick said. “And you’ve seen that make a difference in races at that level where his endorsement has come into play.”

Graham is competing against Project 2025 writer Paul Dans and Upstate businessman Mark Lynch for the Republican nomination. Andrews and Brandon Brown are running for the Democratic nomination.

While filing for the U.S. Senate race doesn’t open for several months, candidates have already publicly joined, and dropped out, of the race to oust Graham, who is running for his fifth six-year term. Graham has faced several Republican primary challengers, but none of those races ever went to a runoff.

His closest Democratic competition came in 2020, when opponent Jaime Harrison ran the most expensive Senate race at the time. Graham defeated Harrison by about 10 points.

While Graham’s messaging has focused on his relationship with Trump and his track record in Congress, Dans and Lynch have primarily criticized him for not being conservative enough. Dans and Lynch have found favor with the South Carolina House Freedom Caucus members, who are some of the most conservative lawmakers in the state.

“When I travel for work and people find out I’m from SC, I always get asked: ‘Why do y’all keep sending Amnesty Graham to U.S. Senate?’ I’m tired of hanging my head in shame,” said state Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley, in a news release announcing his endorsement of Dans.

The Clemson College Republicans, a political campus group that gained attention last month for pushing for employees to be fired over Charlie Kirk related posts, also endorsed Dans, said social chair Jackson Heaberlin. Heaberlin is a freshman political science student at Clemson University.

“I’ve observed that many of my peers are really dissatisfied with the establishment GOP,” Heaberlin said. “And people are really itching for an alternative right now to long-held, establishment candidates.”

Who’s in? Who’s out?

Graham filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission in April. Republican challenger Lynch, president of Jeff Lynch Appliance Center, filed his statement of candidacy in February, and Project 2025 writer Dans filed in late July.

Before Dans hopped in the race, former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer announced his candidacy this summer. He abruptly ended his run in a social media post about a month later, criticizing the “political climate.”

On the Democrat side, Charleston pediatrician Andrews declared she would run for Graham’s seat in May. Andrews unsuccessfully attempted to unseat U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in the Lowcountry district in 2022. Brown, an Upstate business owner, announced his campaign in early July.

Engineer Lee Johnson dropped out of the race in July after two months of only raising $67,000.

Filing for the seat won’t close until March 30, 2026, leaving time for more candidates to jump in. As South Carolina is a reliably Republican state, the winner of the GOP primary will likely have the best chance in the general election. The general election will be held in November 2026, almost a year away.

Leading Democratic candidate outraises Graham in Q3

Candidates must submit reports of their donations and expenditures between July and September by Oct. 15. The recently submitted reports provide the first full quarter of fundraising for some of the candidates challenging Graham.

During the quarter, a Democratic candidate outraised Graham, but the incumbent Senator still has $13 million more cash on hand.

While Graham’s committee took in $511,223, and his Republican opponents raised far less, Andrews reported over $1.56 million in contributions the past quarter. He also received $572,658 from another authorized committee and another $166,500 from other political groups, bringing his total to about $1.3 million.

Raising a lot of money did not help a Democrat beat Graham in 2020. Harrison ended up raising over $130 million by the end of his campaign. However, in the third quarter of 2019, Harrison raised under $2.17 million, about $600,000 more than Andrews. Harrison endorsed Andrews in her bid to unseat Graham.

Dans, a Republican challenger, raised $165,547 since beginning his campaign. He also lent himself $134,000, and the campaign had under $100,000 cash left on hand at the end of September.

Lynch reported raising $91,047 in the third quarter for a total of $265,555 this election cycle. Lynch lent himself $5 million at the beginning of the campaign, so he has about $4.7 million on hand.

“God owns all the cattle of 1,000 hills,” Lynch said in an interview with The State. “Whatever we need to win this, that’s what’s going to come.”

A quarterly report for Brown did not appear on the Federal Election Commission’s website, as of Thursday. His campaign did not respond to multiple emails asking about the report.

Who did Trump endorse?

Several prominent Republicans in South Carolina endorsed Graham in his fifth Senate bid, including Trump.

McKissick said Trump’s endorsement will make a difference for primary voters.

“Clearly it [Trump’s endorsement] matters, and clearly that’s what those voters are looking for,” McKissick said in a September 2025 interview with The State.

In early August, Trump called in to a large South Carolina Republican fundraising event, the Silver Elephant Gala. Speaking through Graham’s phone, Trump expressed his support for the incumbent Senator to a room of wealthy donors, lawmakers and candidates, including Dans.

“Lindsey, thank you so much,” Trump said. “You’ve been my friend. I know you’re in a big race, and I don’t think it’s going to be a contest, but I have a feeling you’re going to do very well. You have for a long time.”

After the call, Dans told reporters at the fundraiser that the phone call was Graham trying to ”force-feed” his endorsement from Trump.

Trump is also hosting a golf tournament fundraiser that will in part benefit Graham in November. The Trump Graham Golf Classic will be Trump’s first fundraiser this election cycle, according to reporting from Politico.

Graham has also picked up endorsements from U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and former Trump official Ben Carson. Dans worked in Carson’s department during Trump’s first term.

Graham also aligned himself with local Republican activists and consultants. His campaign announced a committee of 600 “local activists,” including Richland County Republican Party chair Tyson Grinstead. He has made large payments to Push Digital, Forward Communications & Strategies and First Tuesday Strategies for consulting and advertising, tying himself to some of the state’s top political consultants.

Dans has won over the support of two members from the South Carolina Freedom Caucus: Pace and Thomas Beach, R-Anderson, according to a news release.

SC House Freedom Caucus members — state Reps. Joe White, R-Newberry, Mike Burns, R-Greenville, Thomas Lee Gilreath, R-Anderson, William Chumley, R-Spartanburg, and Ryan McCabe, R-Lexington— have endorsed Lynch, according to his campaign website.

This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Can anyone challenge Graham for U.S. Senate? Here’s what early indicators show.."