POLITICS

Andre Bauer Mulling Challenge To Lindsey Graham

Former lieutenant governor could challenge incumbent U.S. senator…

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Former South Carolina lieutenant governor André Bauer is reportedly considering a bid for the United States Senate in 2026 against veteran incumbent Lindsey Graham.

A successful businessman who has resided in both the Midlands and Lowcountry regions of the state at various points in his life, Bauer – a Charleston native – was the Palmetto State’s 87th lieutenant governor from 2003-2011.

After leaving office, Bauer spent several years as a CNN analyst – and was nominated by Donald Trump in July 2020 to be ambassador to Belize. When Trump announced his 2024 reelection bid in South Carolina, Bauer was one of the first Palmetto State politicians to appear alongside him and endorse his candidacy.

Bauer, 55, had previously been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor of South Carolina in the upcoming 2026 election cycle, however sources familiar with his thinking believe he is more inclined to challenge Graham – in the event he decides to reenter public life.

First elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in his late twenties, Bauer quickly rose through the ranks of the newly minted “Republican” majority in Columbia, S.C. In March 1999, he won a special election to the S.C. Senate just eleven days after his 30th birthday and in January of 2003 he became the youngest lieutenant governor in the nation at the age of 33.

Bauer was approached in 2021 about challenging incumbent S.C. first district congresswoman Nancy Mace during the 2022 election cycle, but ultimately decided against it.

Support FITSNews … SUBSCRIBE!

***

“I’m not just making decisions for André anymore,” he told FITSNews at the time. “I’ve got a family now.”

Indeed, Bauer is viewed as a more mature figure in the aftermath of his 2018 marriage.

Many South Carolina conservatives – including a sizable number of Trump supporters – are eager to see Graham challenged from the right. A definitional Washington, D.C. hypocrite, the warmongering fiscal liberal is well-known for his self-serving flip-floppery when it comes to Trump.  

Graham and Trump have had an uneven relationship over the past decade. In 2015, the unrepentant warmonger – while campaigning for the White House as a #NeverTrumper – told a CNN audience “there’s only one way to make America great again, tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” He proceeded to refer to Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

As the 2016 Republican primary approached, Graham told Republicans “if we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed … and we will deserve it.”

Graham was famously referred to by Democrats as former U.S. president Barack Obama’s “best GOP ally” – the only Republican in the entire congress to back Obama’s tax on carbon and the only “Republican” on the Senate judiciary committee to support left-leaning Obama justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.  He also promoted mass amnesty for illegals.

***

Lindsey Graham (Gage Skidmore)

***

When Trump won, Graham’s tune changed. By late 2017, the Seneca, S.C. native – realizing his 2020 reelection prospects were in serious trouble – began perfecting his latest and greatest flip-flop, morphing from Trump antagonist to Trump defender. He then dramatically flipped the script in 2018 during the contentious fight over the supreme court nomination of justice Brett Kavanaugh.

By the time the 2020 election season started ramping up, Graham was a veritable Trump acolyte.

“His ‘alliance’ with Trump – sealed in hypocritical opportunism – is exclusively an exercise in self-preservation ahead of the 2020 election,” I noted in 2019.

It worked, too…

During the last election cycle, Graham and Trump sparred on multiple occasions.

“Lindsey wouldn’t have been elected if I hadn’t endorsed him,” Trump correctly noted last fall after Graham dinged him on a Washington, D.C. talk show.

Perhaps Trump would be willing to forego such an endorsement this go-round? Many Palmetto State “Republicans” certainly hope he withholds his imprimatur from Graham… or endorses someone else.

Should he decide to run for the Senate, Bauer would represent the most credible opponent Graham has faced since he was elected to the Senate 22 years ago. True, Graham handily defeated Nancy Mace in the 2014 GOP primary – but that was before Mace became the political wrecking ball she is today. Some have urged Mace to run against Graham in 2026, but she reportedly has her sights set on South Carolina’s governor’s mansion instead.

Defeating Graham will not be easy. Thanks to his decades of reckless warmongering, he has amassed a special interest war chest that – as we saw in 2020 – will devote tens of millions of dollars to keep him in office.

“In the event of a nuclear apocalypse, two things will survive: cockroaches and Lindsey Graham,” one Palmetto politico told me.

Hmmmm… maybe that’s why Graham is so keen on starting World War III?

Anyway, count on this media outlet to keep close tabs on this race, the crowded contest for governor and the ongoing battle for control of the GOP legislative “supermajority.”

Loading

Does Lindsey Graham deserve another six-year term in office?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!

    ***

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

    Will Folks on phone
    Will Folks (Brett Flashnick)

    Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

    ***

    WANNA SOUND OFF?

    Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.

    ***

    Get our newsletter by clicking here …

    *****

    Related posts

    POLITICS

    South Carolina Governor’s Race: Thomas Ravenel Is ‘In’

    FITSNews
    POLITICS

    Improving Perceptions Of South Carolina’s Judicial Climate Requires Accountability

    FITSForum
    POLITICS

    South Carolina Think Tank Releases Poll Results

    Will Folks

    9 comments

    What? January 16, 2025 at 1:45 pm

    What is it with South Carolina US Senate seats and sexually ambiguous “Republican” males?

    Reply
    Observer (the real one) January 17, 2025 at 12:58 pm

    There must be sizeable phallic likenesses bolted onto to the seats for SC Senators. They face upward and beckon men of dubious sexual identity, “I reserve this seat for you. Come and enjoy me.”

    Reply
    Avatar photo
    The Colonel Top fan January 16, 2025 at 2:55 pm

    If my choice is Andre or Ms. Lindsey, I’m voting for Ms. Lindsey at least he’s never crashed a plane or tried to achieve take off speed in his car (or compared poor people to stray cats). Andre’s an idiot.

    Reply
    Rebecca Shields Top fan January 17, 2025 at 8:53 am

    I do not care for Graham but Andre Bauer is certainly not the answer.

    Reply
    JustSomeGuy Top fan January 16, 2025 at 3:26 pm

    I forgot that guy existed.

    Reply
    Squishy123 (the original) January 16, 2025 at 3:29 pm

    SC2 now is going to jump back into the political arena as a US Senator? When will this herpes pustule just go away. Maybe he can get Tumpy Campbell to be his Lt. Governor. Might as well get Jimmy and Mandy to run for Governor again.

    Reply
    Ontos Top fan January 17, 2025 at 7:49 am

    I agree with the Colonel.

    Reply
    George Johnson Top fan January 17, 2025 at 6:30 pm

    LMAO

    Reply
    Dum Spiro Spero Top fan January 22, 2025 at 8:14 pm

    If “None of the above” became a choice on this ballot alongside Lindsey and Andre, it might be a primary that I would vote in.

    Reply

    Leave a Comment