South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has transformed from one of President Donald Trump's harshest Republican critics into one of his closest allies, is spending campaign funds as if he is in political jeopardy.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Graham has spent an astounding $27 million on his reelection campaign, even before his primary next week. His five GOP opponents, none of whom have a high statewide profile, have collectively spent less than a fifth of that amount.
In comparison, Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who is engaged in a bitter reelection battle, has spent only $5 million. Is Graham, who has occasionally had an uneasy relationship with the GOP's conservative base, in political trouble ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday? Possibly. However, Republicans suggest it is more likely that he is being cautious and working toward a longer-term objective.
Two decades ago, when he first ran for the Senate in South Carolina, Graham joked that he wanted to make Strom Thurmond, the eight-term 99-year-old he sought to succeed, the second-longest-serving U.S. senator in history.
Terry Sullivan, a longtime Republican consultant with extensive experience in South Carolina, stated that Graham, who is now seeking his fifth six-year term, wants to send a message to potential future challengers.
"The candidates running against him are clowns. And if one of them ever got close, somebody real might run against him next time," said Sullivan, who ran former GOP Sen. Jim DeMint's campaign in 2004. "When he first ran for office, his stump speech at every GOP county convention was that he wanted to make Strom Thurmond the second-longest-serving United States senator."
Graham's campaign did not respond to a query from HuffPost.
Graham is also receiving outside support from super PACs funded by cryptocurrency and technology companies, with $924,287 in advertising support from American Mission and Fellowship PAC. His best-funded opponent, self-financed businessman Mark Lynch, has faced $5.6 million in negative advertising from three groups: Palmetto Action, Security is Strength PAC, and Project 2026.
Limited public polling has shown Graham in the lead. A late May poll from The Citadel, a military college in the state, found Graham with a 46% to 36% lead over Lynch. A poll from the Trump-friendly Trafalgar Group found him with a larger 52% to 28% lead. If no candidate wins a majority in Tuesday's primary, the top two candidates will proceed to a June 23 runoff election.
The winner of the Republican primary will face the Democratic primary winner in the November general election, with pediatrician Annie Andrews seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. However, a Democrat has not won a statewide office in South Carolina in 20 years.
In the past year and a half, Graham has also raised more than $20 million after entering this two-year cycle with $15.6 million already in the bank. The $20 million figure makes him the top GOP Senate candidate in campaign fundraising this cycle and number eight overall.
"Lindsey won't lose. He's spending money because he can," Sullivan said. "Lindsey has absolutely no intention of leaving the United States Senate vertically. He'll die in that seat."
Graham served eight years in the House before winning the Senate seat in 2002 with Thurmond's endorsement. Thurmond began his career as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party, as many southern Democrats did, after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts in the 1960s and Richard Nixon's aggressive courting of Southern whites who opposed that legislation. He served 48 years in the Senate, but his record has already been surpassed by West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, who died in 2010 after holding office for 51 years.
