Former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer challenges Lindsey Graham in SC Senate race
Bauer said in a news release Wednesday morning that he is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, launching a primary challenge of the state's senior senator who reported he had more than $15 million in the bank at the end of last quarter.
'Lindsey Graham has lost his way, and South Carolinians deserve a true conservative fighter to represent them in the United States Senate – 100% guaranteed,' Bauer said in a statement.
Bauer's formal entry into the primary race was first reported by The Associated Press.
Bauer already has a WinRed fundraising page that includes a photo of him with President Donald Trump. Bauer's campaign news release touts that he was an early supporter of the president in 2016, and 'has stood firmly with Trump on every issue, including the border, the economy and draining the swamp.'
The campaign also points to how Graham has had public disagreements with Trump, despite the senator and the president being frequent golfing partners and allies.
'The people of South Carolina are fed up with Lindsey Graham and are ready for a much-needed change,' Bauer said.
Graham, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, has a 34% approval rating among all South Carolinians. Among Republicans he is at 55%, according to a poll released in May by Winthrop University.
The Palmetto State's senior senator has faced primary challenges before, and multiple challengers helped split the anti-Graham vote. Since being elected to the Senate, Graham has clinched the nomination in each of his reelection campaigns without the need to go to a runoff.
Graham's reelection also has been endorsed by Trump, who is popular among the Republican voting base in South Carolina. Graham also is being supported by Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. In May, Graham rolled out a finance committee with a list of more than 90 prominent donors in South Carolina.
Republican strategist Chris LaCivita, who served as Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager, also is working on Graham's campaign as a senior adviser.
In recent weeks, Graham was a key senator in its passage of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' that includes key Trump priorities such as making tax cuts from the president's first term permanent and increasing spending on border security, defense and energy production, according to CBS News.
'Andre Bauer has spent his career chasing titles to feed his ego, running for five different offices and even trying to leverage Senator Graham and the White House for an ambassadorship,' Graham spokeswoman Abby Zilch said in a statement. 'When that failed, he launched his sixth campaign — proving once again, this is all about Making Andre Great Again.'
Bauer, who was lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2011, told the Washington Examiner last month that Trump has privately urged him to get back into politics.
'He's expressed confidence in me four or five times in a row that I've seen him,' Bauer told the Examiner, adding he has yet to speak to Trump about the Senate race.
Alex Latchman, the executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, which works to elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate, worked on Trump's 2024 campaign in the early primary states. Latchman on X disputed Bauer's claim.
'This is bull----. I oversaw President Trump's South Carolina campaign and Andre was a massive pain in the a--,' Latchman posted. 'The (former) Lt. Governor thought President Trump's campaign was the Andre Bauer show.'
Bauer was a member of the Trump's leadership team in the Palmetto State standing alongside Graham, McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and U.S. Reps. Russell Fry, William Timmons and Joe Wilson. However, Bauer wasn't on the stage with Trump on the night of the South Carolina presidential primary.
Bauer ran for governor in 2010, and finished fourth in the Republican primary election. He also ran for U.S. House in 2012, but lost in a Republican runoff against eventual U.S. Rep. Tom Rice in the 7th Congressional District.
Graham already had two primary challengers. Businessman Mark Lynch, of Greenville, has been in the race since February and put in $5 million of his own money boost his bid.
Ethan Holliman, of Conway, also has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run as a Republican for the seat and has loaned his campaign $20,000.
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