South Carolina Tag

After a lot of speculation and angst by conservative voters in South Carolina, today is Judgment Day for Lindsey Graham. Over the past year, SC grassroots activists have attempted to organize with the goal of defeating Graham in his re-election bid.  The problem always came back to the lack of a serious challenger to the incumbent Senator. Graham was first elected to Congress in the Republican Wave of 1994.  But the voters who watched O.J. Simpson huddled in the back of his white Bronco 20 years ago are not the demographic force of the electorate today.  South Carolina has a very eclectic mix of Republican voters:  Establishment/old school, Tea Party patriot grassroots groups, Christian conservatives and a libertarian streak that gave Ron Paul some hope in the 2012 South Carolina primary. Unlike the McDaniel/Cochran Senate race in Mississippi, none of these odd fellows in S.C. were able to coalesce behind a single candidate to go up against Graham. However, South Carolina is very interesting as it is one of the few states left that requires a 50%-plus-one vote in order to avoid a runoff election.  Most runoff states have a lower threshold of 40%. The main competitors to Graham are S.C. State Senator Lee Bright from the Greenville-Spartanburg area of Upstate South Carolina.  Bright was well-postioned in the crowded field as the only elected official with some statewide name recognition to challenge Lindsey Graham.  Bright also brought together a number of the numerous Tea Party and patriot grassroots groups throughout the state.  However, he never seemed to be able to gain momentum statewide or make a compelling case as to why he was a good alternative to Graham.  Bright struggled with fundraising throughout the contest, but recent polls suggest he may finish in second place to Graham in voting today.