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There is a lot of attention being focused on primary challenges to sitting Republican Senators this election cycle. Before the races started heating up, many conservatives across the country were most looking forward to unseating South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. And yet, almost no national attention has been given to the race. This should change, as all polling shows Graham vulnerable to falling beneath the 50% runoff threshold. While Lindsey Graham isn’t part of the McConnell-Cornyn leadership (from behind) team, he does more than his part to neuter conservative, small-government efforts. Consider the following: 1-Graham, with the possible exception of...

The already-crowded race to unseat South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is about to get another candidate. Det Bowers, a well-connected Columbia pastor known for his oratory, put weeks of rumors to rest on Monday and said he is joining the five-person Republican Senate primary field. “No question,” Bowers told CNN in a phone interview. “I am definitely running.” Bowers said he filed fundraising paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in recent days and plans to make a formal announcement about his campaign soon. He also commiserated with donors in Washington and Texas last month, people close to him said. “I...

Nashville, TN – Today, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The legislation currently has 33 cosponsors – but Senator Alexander is not one of them. Conservative Senate candidate Joe Carr called on Senator Alexander to change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. “I’m strongly pro-life and believe it’s imperative the Senate pass this important piece of legislation. When Senator Graham announced his co-sponsors and Senator Alexander’s name was missing, I was disappointed. I am hoping Senator Alexander will change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. This legislation is too...

ALSO REJECT COMMON CORE: A NEW CONCEPT FOR LINDSEY The York County GOP gave Lee Bright’s surging campaign a pair of convincing straw poll victories last week, as the upstate Senator from Spartanburg picked up a large plurality of the executive committee vote as well as the general membership vote. Bright defeated Lindsey Graham 42-21% among the Executive Committee members, with 27% undecided and no one else above 6% – and 42-16% among all members present. In addition, the membership voted unanimously to adopt the RNC’s resolution to flatly reject Common Core. “This is another great result for our campaign,”...

A poll conducted by Harper Polling released today shows US Senator Lindsey Graham remains vulnerable and within the margin of error of being forced into a head-to-head runoff against a conservative challenger in the 2014 South Carolina Republican primary for re-election. Meanwhile, among those vying to replace Graham, South Carolina State Senator Lee Bright has broken away as the main challenger with more support than all others taking on Graham combined.

Kevin Thomas “frustrated” by Graham’s support for Obama agenda When Kevin Thomas was asked by Team Graham to be a precinct captain, he agreed out of a sense of party duty. Now, in light of Lindsey Graham’s continuing missteps, he has officially resigned his post and is enthusiastically endorsing upstate Senator Lee Bright for the U.S. Senate. This personal endorsement speaks to a dynamic across the state, and dovetails nicely with recent national endorsements from the Republican Liberty Caucus and Gun Rights Across America, along with a unanimous victory in a Sumter Tea Party straw poll. “The more I thought...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham threatened Monday to hold up all nominations for federal government positions until survivors of last year's deadly attack on the diplomatic post in Libya appear before Congress. "Where are the #Benghazi survivors?" the South Carolina Republican said on his official Twitter account. "I'm going to block every appointment in the US Senate until they are made available to Congress."

Fiscally liberal incumbent Lindsey Graham isn’t trying to win his 2014 Republican primary election in South Carolina. Far from it. What is he trying to do? Fundamentally redefine the way GOP primary races are run in the Palmetto State … and every state which permits “open” primary elections (or primaries in which non-registered “Republicans” can vote). Graham, who has a $7 million war chest at his disposal, has reportedly hired an out-of-state firm to run what one national consultant called “the most sophisticated voter identification and turnout platform ever implemented at the state level.” According to a source familiar with...

Sen. Lindsey Graham was the only Republican in South Carolina’s GOP-dominated congressional delegation who voted for the deal that reopened the federal government. “This agreement is far from great news, but it brings to an end, at least temporarily, a disaster,” Graham said. “It stops the bleeding and gives us a chance to regroup. On the positive side, the agreement preserves the spending caps and makes modest changes to protect taxpayers from what will be rampant fraud in Obamacare income-verification procedures.”

GOP challenger aims to follow in the footsteps of other Republican firebrands MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- In the Republican Liberty Caucus’ endorsement of state Sen. Lee Bright for the U.S. Senate Wednesday, the group’s seemingly mild-mannered, genial state chairman stepped up to a podium here to offer particular praise not usually associated with the pugnacious politician he was feting. “The thing that really stands out for me is that he is a unifier. He can bring together the various aspects, the various segments of the Republican Party of South Carolina,” said RLC South Carolina chairman Scott Pearson. “And he can...

In the Republican Liberty Caucus’ endorsement of state Sen. Lee Bright for the U.S. Senate Wednesday, the group’s seemingly mild-mannered, genial state chairman stepped up to a podium here to offer particular praise not usually associated with the pugnacious politician he was feting. “The thing that really stands out for me is that he is a unifier. He can bring together the various aspects, the various segments of the Republican Party of South Carolina,” said RLC South Carolina chairman Scott Pearson. “And he can do that in a way that our incumbent is not able to do.” In just a...

Dear friend, I continue to hear from many of you about the current government shutdown. I am as frustrated and disgusted as you are about the dysfunction in Washington. One point that I have repeatedly heard is that Members of Congress should not be paid while the government is shut down. I agree completely. I don't believe I should get a salary while other federal employees are furloughed. That's why I'm going to donate my congressional salary to the Wounded Warrior Project as long as the government is shut down. It's the least I can do. Sincerely, Lindsey Graham...

“Once again, Sen. Lindsey Graham has ignored his constituents by helping the Democrat Senate Majority Leader pass a Continuing Resolution which includes full funding for Obamacare. Lindsey Graham has been in Washington for decades but he is still falling for the tricks of Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer. It is disheartening to see that, despite the heroic efforts of Senate conservatives to stop the implementation of Obamacare, Sen. Graham followed in lockstep with Senator John McCain, saying that because McCain and Mitt Romney lost the last two elections, Republicans should completely surrender to every demand President Obama makes. I disagree."

Amid the lowlights of the media coverage of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s speech (actual Politico.com headline: “Experts: Dr. Seuss Would Be ‘Offended’ ”), it’s easy to skip how the press was overlooking the obvious accomplishment happening before their eyes: Cruz was winning. No, Cruz wasn’t winning the vote count in the U.S. Senate to defund Obamacare. That was never going to happen. And even if the John McCain surrender caucus had stood strong, bringing five red-state Democrats with them, Cruz still would have lost. President Obama would have vetoed, and the bar in the Senate would have risen to 67 “no”...

There’s a new public enemy No. 1 in Senate GOP circles, and it’s not Ted Cruz. It’s the Senate Conservatives Fund, an organization that used to prop up underdog conservative candidates but now is training its fire mainly on Republican incumbents — rather than Democrats. The group has ginned up anger on the far-right towards Republican senators for refusing to use a government shutdown threat as leverage to defund Obamacare — a campaign that has been good for its bottom line. Since it started engaging in the defund Obamacare campaign, the group brought in the vast majority of the $3.5...

Lindsey Graham takes the American people for fools. After voting to shut down debate on the continuing resolution, thereby allowing Harry Reid to strike the provision to defund Obamacare, Lindsey Graham had the gall to tweet this: Lindsey Graham ✔ @GrahamBlog I proudly voted to #DefundObamacare and am proud every Senate GOPer united in support of the House-passed #DefundObamacare provision. 1:34 PM - 27 Sep 2013

South Carolina Republican Party September 25, 2013 A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SUPPORTING SENATOR TED CRUZ AND HIS EFFORTS IN THE U.S. SENATE TO DEFUND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, ALSO KNOWN AS OBAMACARE, AND RESPECTFULLY APPEALING TO SOUTH CAROLINA’S SENIOR SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM AND SOUTH CAROLINA’S JUNIOR SENATOR TIM SCOTT, TO ACTIVELY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORT THE EFFORTS OF SENATOR CRUZ WHEREAS the South Carolina Republican Party Platform has been consistent for many years that health care should remain in the hands of citizens, not bureaucrats; and, WHEREAS the South Carolina Republican Party platform has...

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham may be in for a bumpy ride in his bid to secure a third term in November 2014, a new poll suggests. The Clemson University poll released Wednesday found that Mr. Graham enjoys far more tepid support among his fellow Republicans than other state GOP leaders, even as he faces a competitive primary against a trio of conservative challengers. Poll author David Woodard, a Clemson political scientist, found that just 53 percent of the 500 Republicans surveyed hold a favorable view of Mr. Graham, compared to 36 percent who had an unfavorable view. This stands...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday said "Allahu akbar" is a "war chant" that sends him running for cover. “When somebody yells ‘Allahu akbar’ in the Middle East, I duck,” the senator said on Fox News radio. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, how you doing Lindsey,’” he said on Fox News radio. Graham was asked about the phrase, which translates to “God is great,” in light of Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) remark that people shouldn't find the phrase offensive. “For someone to say 'Allahu akbar,' it’s about as offensive as someone saying, ‘Thank God,’” McCain said earlier this month. But Graham,...

On Friday, the House voted for a resolution to keep government open but also defund ObamaCare. Within minutes, Nancy Mace, who is opposing Sen. Lindsey Graham in the GOP primary, issue a press release attacking Graham for his past criticism of the defunding strategy. In just two hours, Graham tweeted that he supported the House's efforts to defund the unpopular health care law. Such is the power of primaries. As recently as July, Graham said that defunding ObamaCare was "a bridge too far for him." Primary opponents do tend to focus a politician's mind. Graham faces at least three opponents...