South Carolina Senate Election

South Carolina Senate Election

Abby Phillips, Staff Writer

The 2020 South Carolina Senate election occurred this past Tuesday. The two frontrunners were Democrat Jaime Harrison and Republican Lindsey Graham. Graham won with 54.5% of the vote.

Although Jaime Harrison’s campaign raised $57 million on fundraising (which broke the record previously set by Beto O’Rourke), he still was not able to pull off a win. In his run for Senate, Harrison’s key messages were that he would lessen the financial burdens that are often associated with healthcare, strengthen South Carolina’s economy, and stated that Lindsey Graham was not in touch with his voters.

Lindsey Graham was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002. Prior to this, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994. He believes in reforming campaign finance laws, ending common core education, securing the border, repealing Obamacare, and banning most abortions at 20 weeks. Along with this, Lindsey Graham thinks that climate change is real, that most citizens should have access to assault weapons and larger magazine clips, Republicans should not push for a Constitutional amendment on gay marriage, and moving towards a flat tax. He defends Israel’s actions in the West Bank and suggests sending troops to fight the Islamic State. One thing that helped Graham win this election was his ability to get Amy Coney Barrett a hearing and eventual confirmation on the Supreme Court. He also stated that helping President Trump and standing up for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh helped set him up for this election as well.