Politics

Jaime Harrison raises $57 million in campaign to unseat Lindsey Graham, shattering quarterly record

Key Points
  • The impressive $57 million Harrison raised from July through September shatters the previous record of $38.1 million then-Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke raised in the third quarter of 2018.
  • The single-quarter haul brings Harrison's campaign total to $86 million this cycle.
  • And while Sen. Graham has not yet released his third-quarter fundraising he said in a pair of interviews last month on Fox News that he was "being killed financially."
Jaime Harrison, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, speaks during a 'Rural Hope Agenda' event in Rowesville, South Carolina, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020.
Micah Green | Bloomberg | Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The campaign of South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison said Sunday it had raised a colossal $57 million in the past three months, a record-breaking sum aimed at unseating Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The impressive $57 million Harrison raised from July through September shatters the previous record of $38.1 million then-Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke raised in the third quarter of 2018.

The single-quarter haul brings Harrison's campaign total to $86 million this cycle.

And while Sen. Graham has not yet released his third-quarter fundraising he said in a pair of interviews last month on Fox News that he was "being killed financially."

"I'm being killed financially. This money is because they hate my guts," Graham said during an interview on "Fox & Friends" on Sept. 24. Later that evening he told Fox host Sean Hannity that he needed financial help with his Senate race.

"I'm getting overwhelmed," Graham told Hannity, adding: "Help me. They're killing me moneywise. Help me. You did last week. Help me again."

Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is seen during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Examining Best Practices for Incarceration and Detention During COVID-19," in Washington, U.S., June 2, 2020.
Tom Williams | Pool via REUTERS

Graham, one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, is facing the most competitive reelection campaign of his political career as he fights for a fourth term.

Graham was last re-elected to the Senate in 2014.

This week, the three-term senator will oversee as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee the confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Democrats need four seats to win back the Senate
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Democrats need four seats to win back the Senate