Jaime Harrison sets Senate fundraising record in race against Lindsey Graham
South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison has shattered congressional fundraising records, bringing in $57m in the final quarter for his US Senate campaign against Republican incumbent and Trump ally Lindsey Graham as the Republican party tries to retain control of the chamber in November’s election.
Harrison’s campaign said Sunday that the total was the largest-ever during a single three-month period by any Senate candidate. That tops the $38m raised by Democrat Beto O’Rourke in 2018 in the final fundraising period of his challenge to Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who won the race.
Graham, a longtime senator, is tied with Harrison in a highly competitive race.
Graham hasn’t released fundraising totals for the previous quarter, although it’s likely he’s been eclipsed by Harrison. Last month, Graham made a public plea for fundraising to help him keep up with Harrison, saying on Fox News that he was “getting killed financially” by Harrison, who he predicted would “raise $100m in the state of South Carolina.”
“The money is because they hate my guts,” Graham added.
At the end of June, both candidates were roughly matched at about $30m apiece, money that has come largely from out of-state donors. For the race overall, not including the most recent quarter, Harrison’s in-state contribution amount is 10%. Graham’s is 14%.
“This campaign is making history, because we’re focused on restoring hope back to South Carolina,” said Guy King, Harrison’s campaign spokesman. “While Lindsey Graham continues playing political games in Washington, Jaime Harrison is remaining laser-focused on the real issues impacting people here – like health care, broadband access, and Covid relief for businesses and families.”
The latest fundraising report comes one day before the start of what is predicted to be a contentious hearing in the Senate judiciary committee on Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court. Graham is the committee chairman.
His commitment to confirming
Trump’s third nominee to the court has become a focal point in the Senate campaign, with Harrison frequently chiding Graham for reversing on previous promises not to consider election-year nominations. Graham has responded by saying he feels Democrats would do the same if given the choice.
Attributing the fundraising success to grassroots support, Harrison’s campaign said the $57m came in the form of 1.5m donations from 994,000 donors. The average contribution was $37.
Some voters have said that Harrison’s background resonated with them. Harrison’s mother was age 16 when she gave birth to him. His grandparents were largely responsible for raising him in Orangeburg, a majority
Black town in South Carolina where a racial massacre took place in 1968, CNN reported.
Harrison openly discusses how he saw poverty prevent Black Americans from attaining the same opportunities as others, and has said he endured repeated economic hardships during his youth. Shortly after Harrison learned to read, he helped their grandparents read bills, realizing that they often didn’t couldn’t pay them. There were times when he ate cereal with water not milk, because there wasn’t money, he has said.
Harrison, who attended public schools, obtained a scholarship to Yale University. After he graduated in 1998, Harrison moved back home to teach at his former high school. Then, Harrison worked at an organization that assisted low-income high-schoolers who want to attend college. In 2004, Harrison graduated from Georgetown University’s law school, CNN said. He then worked for South Carolina Democrat Rep. James Clyburn and later, as a lobbyist.
“It’s tough for a Black American to win a statewide seat here, but we’re at a critical moment when it might be possible,” Tina Herbert, an attorney in the South Carolina city of Columbia, told CNN. “So I’m very excited about Harrison’s campaign. His story resonates with me. He really is the hometown boy.”
From 2013 to 2017, Harrison also chaired the South Carolina Democratic Party, making him the first Black American to hold this role. Harrison has been an associate chair with the Democratic National Committee since 2017, CNN noted.
During Harrison’s debate with Graham on 3 October, social media users across the country chimed into tweet threads with pledges to donate as often as they could. In the two days following that matchup, Harrison’s campaign said they brought in $1.5m – as much as the effort had raised in some previous entire fundraising quarters.
At the beginning of the campaign, Harrison, an associate Democratic National Committee chairman, told The Associated Press he felt it could take $10m to win the race, an amount he felt he could raise given his national-level connections. To date, he has brought in nearly $86m.