672,942 480,933 Start date November 4, 2014 | 55.3% 38.8% | |
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Winner Lindsey Graham | ||
The 2014 United States Senate election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 2014, concurrently with a special election for South Carolina's other Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
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Incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham won re-election. He faced Democratic State Senator Brad Hutto and Independent Thomas Ravenel in the general election. He defeated both of them by a 10-point margin.
Republican primary
Of all the Republican Senators up for re-election in the 2014 cycle, Graham was considered one of the most vulnerable to a primary challenge, largely due to his low approval ratings and reputation for working with and compromising with Democrats. He expected a primary challenge from conservative activists, including the Tea Party movement, and Chris Chocola, President of the Club for Growth, indicated that his organization would support a primary challenge if an acceptable standard-bearer emerged.
However, a serious challenger to Graham failed to emerge and he was widely viewed as likely to win, which has been ascribed to his "deft maneuvering" and "aggressive" response to the challenge. He befriended potential opponents from the state's congressional delegation and helped them with fundraising and securing their preferred committee assignments; he assembled a "daunting multimillion-dollar political operation" dubbed the "Graham machine" that built six regional offices across the state and enlisted the support of thousands of paid staffers and volunteers, including over 5,000 precinct captains; he assembled a "staggering" campaign warchest and "blanketed" the state with positive ads; he focused on constituent services and local issues; and he refused to "pander" to the Tea Party supporters, instead confronting them head-on, arguing that the Republican party needs to be more inclusive.
Declared
Withdrew
Declined
Polling
Declared
Declined
Declared
Independent
In March 2014, with only controversial businessman and prankster Jay Stamper running for the Democrats, Dick Harpootlian, former Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, had stated that business leaders were working on an effort to recruit a potential Independent candidate to run in case Graham was defeated in the primary. Such a "contingency" plan was rendered moot by the entry of Democratic State Senator Brad Hutto into the race.
Former Republican State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel had confirmed that was considering running for the Senate as an Independent and was likely to do so if Lindsey Graham won the Republican primary. In April 2014, with Graham polling strongly in the primary, Ravenel announced he would run. He officially announced his candidacy on July 4.
Declared
Debates
Graham has refused to debate his opponents. A spokesman has said that his campaign is "in discussions with other groups, as well as looking at the schedule." Hutto has said that Graham is "terrified at the thought of defending his own record in a public debate" and Ravenel said Graham's decision was "highly arrogant and disrespectful."
Fundraising
The following are Federal Election Commission disclosures for the pre-primary reporting period.