Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took an opportunity to gloat about all the money spent in an effort to unseat him after more than 56 percent of the state’s voters decided to send him back for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate after he was specifically targeted for raking Senate Judiciary Democrats over the coals for their treatment of Supreme Court candidates Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Graham survived a daunting campaign to unseat him. His challenger, Democrat Jamie Harrison, had a campaign that reportedly raised $109 million.
Standing before a celebratory crowd, Graham quipped, “To all the pollsters out there, you have no idea what you’re doing. And to all the liberals in California and New York, you’re wasting a whole lot of money.”
He called the Harrison campaign “the worst return on investment in the history of American politics.”
Lindsey Graham: "I've had two calls already — one from President Trump. He's going to win. He's going to win! To all the pollsters out there, you have no idea what you're doing." #ElectionDay pic.twitter.com/iFI5LwfxJa
— The Hill (@thehill) November 4, 2020
With Graham returning to the Senate, he will help provide a barrier to extremist gun control policies, should Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump in the White House race.
And with Maine Sen. Susan Collins emerging the winner in her tight race after challenger Sara Gideon conceded, anti-gun New York Sen. Charles Schumer is not going to be the Senate Majority Leader to push through any gun control schemes.
The Gideon-Collins race was also a high-dollar affair, with the two national parties and outside groups spending more than $100 million, according to the Portland Press Herald.
But the effort to defeat Graham may go down in election history as the most expensive failure by anti-gunners and other liberal groups.
Graham predicted President Trump would eke out a victory in his re-election campaign, but odds makers were leaning toward a Biden victory. There are apparently still questions about Arizona, plus Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina still haven’t been called, although Michigan counts appear to be leaning toward Biden, and he reportedly just captured Wisconsin. The president will demand a recount, Fox News is reporting.
In South Carolina, Democrat Harrison “managed to raise $57 million during the final full quarter of the campaign, breaking Senate fundraising records,” according to Market Watch.
Graham pulled in a total $64 million, the report stated.
The big question—what happens now—will have to be answered only after all the votes are counted. Trump still has a path to victory but a slim one.
Still, during his first term, the president managed to fill hundreds of federal court vacancies with constitutional conservative judges and three Supreme Court justices. With Republicans apparently retaining control of the Senate, there will be no court packing, as has been threatened in the aftermath of Justice Barrett’s confirmation last month.
