Matthew Chance
Research Paper 2
Government 327
Professor Aaron S. Van
Allen November 30th, 2020
Introduction
The 2020 Presidential race had all these crazy twists and turns. The 2020 Senate race had twists
and turns as well. Many seats were up for re-election and many incumbents did not re-gain their seats.
An important race that many people had their eyes on was the South Carolina seat where Republican
incumbent Lindsey Graham was running for re-election against Democrat Jaime Harrison. Senator
Lindsey Graham has been the Senior Senator in South Carolina since January 7th, 2003. He has won re-
election every time since he started in office. Many people did not like Senator Graham has he a voice
supporting President Donald Trump, voice supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and Judge Amy Coney
Barrett. People from all over the United States were donating money to get Senator Lindsey Graham out
of the Senate. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were
major voices that were telling people to vote against Lindsey Graham and to raise as much money as
they could to help Jaime Harrison take over his seat in the Senate. This race was heavily watched to see
the outcome of how this important race would turn out.
Issues
Senator Lindsey Graham supports many things, and he has been very vocal about his stance on
issues that are happening in the United States and just in his state of South Carolina as well. Lindsey
Grahams website lindseygraham.com/issues talks about this issues he supports and it says, “Lindsey
Graham understands that the way to create jobs and build a strong economy is to let Americans keep
more of what they earn and get the government out of the way. In 2017, Senator Graham was a leading
advocate for the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a historic tax reform package that spurred
unprecedented economic growth throughout the country.” Senator Lindsey Graham talks and stands for
issues on jobs and the economy, supporting South Carolina, a strong military, protecting the
Constitution, health care, the right to life, and second amendment, immigration, COVID19 relief and
many more.
“I’m proud to be a cosponsor of this important resolution,” said Graham. “Hyper-partisan calls
to abolish ICE are delusional at best. We are fortunate to have hardworking ICE officers who put their
life on the line to protect Americans. The security of our country depends on brave men and women like
these and we owe them a great deal.” This is a press release written and said by Senator Lindsey
Graham when he talks about ICE or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement which he has been a
strong supported for. ICE.gov talks about what ICE is and thy say, “ICE was created in 2003 through a
merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and
the Immigration and Naturalization Service.” Senator Graham has been a big supported on this issue
because people cross over to the United States illegally and the only agency that finds these people then
deport them back to the home country is ICE. ICE and immigration have been a major topic since the
2016 election with President Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham.
District
South Carolina is comprised of seven congressional districts. There used to be eight and nine
districts, but these districts were lost after the 1840 Census. After the 2010 census, South Carolina
regained its 7th district due to exceeding the nation’s average population growth. After the 2020 Senate
elections, Senator Lindsey Graham won the re-election if 54.5% of the vote compared to his opponent
Jaime Harrison who received 44.2% of the vote in the state. His issues and voting clearly represent the
district as he has been voted back to the Senate each time his re-election campaign has been going.
Senator Graham does not need to change anything in his districts as he has the vote of the people who
he represents. If changes were made, his constituents might not like the change and could vote him out
during his next re-election. Senator Graham should stick to the plan and issues that he has talked about
ever since he started in Senate in 2003.
Support of PACs
Super PACS and interest groups are vital to campaigns because they raise money and donate
them to candidates that they support. Each candidate usually has several Super PACS or interest groups
that support them. An interest group that is vital for Senator Lindsey Graham is the American
Conservative Union. This interest group is described as, The ACU has served as an umbrella organization
harnessing the collective strength of conservative organizations fighting for Americans who are
concerned with liberty, personal responsibility, traditional values, and strong national defense." Senator
Graham is a big supported of a stronger military and for a stronger national defense for the United
States of America. This would be a vital interest group because they stand with the ideas that Senator
Graham fights for in the Senate. This support would give him vital funding to show people exactly what
is needed.
Another vital interest group that Senator Graham could benefit from greatly is the Citizens
United Political Victory Fund. This is descried as, "Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF) is
registered with the Federal Election Commission as a separate, segregated fund of Citizens United. Its
mission is to support conservative candidates running for federal office who share Citizens United's
vision of reducing the size and scope of government, lowering taxes, cutting spending, promoting
traditional family values, and winning the war on terror." This would be vital to Senator Graham
because he has fought for reducing the size of government and lowering taxes so people can take home
more money from their jobs. Lowering taxes has been a major issue that Senator Graham has been
fighting for since he started in the Senate. Senator Graham has a major voice in helping President Trump
pass a bill on lowing taxes for the American people. This interest group would be vital because it would
show the people that Senator Graham really is fighting for the American people because everything said
on the news is not correct and spread lies to make people panic.
PACs against
Super PACs and interest groups do not just only support one candidate or political group. They
will support the opponent of a candidate because they do not like what he stands for. Senator Graham
has had several interest groups and Super PACS that have raised enough money to try and defeat him.
His opponent raised the most money from PACs and interest groups to try and defeat him. An interest
group I would need to protect him from is Americans for Democratic Action. They are described as,
"Americans for Democratic Action has and will continue to be a forthright liberal voice of this nation. We
work to advocate progressive stances on civil rights and liberties, social and economic justice, sensible
foreign policy, and sustainable environmental policy." This interest group is far left and will try to say
Senator Graham has supported bills that do not benefit the American people and try to lie to gain
support for the opposing candidate.
Another interest group I would try to protect Senator Graham from would be the Blue Rising
PAC. This is described as, "The Blue Rising PAC was formed to protect and defend the rights and values
that are under attack by the Trump Administration and the extreme Right. Blue Rising supports federal
candidates that fight for Democratic ideals." I would try and protect him from this because since
Senator Graham has been vocal is supporting President Trump people have wanted him out of the
Senate. This PAC would try to discredit Senator Graham showing he has supported things from
President Trump that many people have not liked. This interest group would be vital to support against
because they will do everything to get rid of Senator Graham.
Works Cited
Political Action Committees (PACs). (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020,
from https:// www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/2020
Issues – United States Senator Lindsey Graham. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from
https:// www.lindseygraham.com/issues/
The Voter's Self Defense System. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020,
from https://justfacts.votesmart.org/interest-groups/NA/45
Graham Cosponsors Resolution Opposing Efforts To Abolish ICE. (2018, July 31). Retrieved December 01,
2020, from https:// www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A4B24F39-5039-49A8-
B7F7-87FFF27B4959
