The Blue Tsunami Rises, Con't

Democrats believe South Carolina is in play, and the Lindsey Graham is vulnerable, and they're going all out to help Jaime Harrison pull off the upset of the year...and maybe win the state for Biden.

 

If you think you are already being inundated with political ads for South Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, just wait until you see the bombardment that’s in store for the final month.

The high-profile contest between Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison has already shattered Palmetto State records, with at least $72 million spent so far on advertising by both the candidates and outside groups, according to media monitoring firm Advertising Analytics.

That spending is spearheaded by Harrison, who has drastically outpaced Graham, shelling out almost $50 million since the June primaries compared to less than $20 million by Graham. Harrison also has considerably more spending planned for October than Graham, about $13 million to $3 million.

With more cash continuing to flow into both Harrison and Graham’s campaign coffers and additional outside groups jumping into the fray, enticed by public polls that show a neck-and-neck race between the candidates, the total cost is likely to climb even higher in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 election.

In the latest poll of likely South Carolina voters out Wednesday from Quinnipiac University, Graham and Harrison were tied at 48 percentage points each, which was unchanged from the same pollster’s last survey two weeks ago.

Results like that, along with Graham’s role leading the upcoming confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee as Senate Judiciary chairman, will only draw more resources to the state, prompting Republican media consultant Kurt Pickhardt to predict South Carolina’s first ever nine-figure race.

“South Carolina politics has seen a lot of things, but a $100 million Senate race isn’t one of them,” said Pickhardt, the vice president of Smart Media Group, a GOP media-buying firm based in D.C. “That’s a very real possibility this cycle.”

 

Harrison has both the cash and the momentum.  Quinnipiac University's poll over the weekend had him tied, 48% a piece.  The thing that might save Graham is Independent candidate Bill Bledsoe, who is bleeding off just enough anti-Graham vote at 2% or so to most likely give him the win.

Still, Harrison has come closer than anyone so far. He could win. Still a month to go.