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The former director of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, Paul Dans, has officially announced his bid to replace U.S. senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in the 2026 midterm elections.
The 2026 GOP primary represents the first serious assault on Graham – and comes as polls indicate GOP voters have had enough of the long-serving senator.
A Winthrop University poll taken in late May of this year showed Graham’s approval ratings lagging well behind other Republicans. According to the survey, Graham is 11 points less popular than president Donald Trump and 7 points less popular than U.S. senator Tim Scott. Perhaps more concerning for Graham, roughly 40% of respondents reported disapproving of his performance in office, while only 34% approved.
Although polls can be manipulated to skew results, Winthrop’s numbers seem to accurately distill a visceral hatred for Graham amongst many Republican primary voters – a hatred perhaps best displayed when he was cacophonously booed at a 2024 Trump campaign rally in Pickens County.
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Lindsey Graham is getting relentlessly booed here in Pickens, South Carolina.
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) July 1, 2023
Six minutes of boos and counting…Graham is stammering through this.
“We like Trump!” Graham says, to which a man yells, “But not you!” pic.twitter.com/TrzyWkGPMS
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Graham’s apparent weakness has opened a political power vacuum, one which numerous candidates have already indicated they’d like to fill. Former S.C. lieutenant governor André Bauer, a native of Charleston, S.C, announced his entrance into the race earlier this month. Prior to Bauer’s announcement, Graham’s top announced rival was Mark Lynch – a Greer, S.C.-based appliance store owner.
Dans’ announcement adds another potential heavy-hitter to the mix. The 56-year-old’s connections to top national political operatives and principals were evident in the rollout of his campaign – which commenced with a volley of articles and interviews announcing his intent to cement himself as the Palmetto State’s best bet to replace Graham, whom Dans referred to as as “the top swamp critter.”
Dans slammed the 70-year-old senator for his repudiation of the MAGA movement’s policy priorities in a press statement announcing his campaign (.pdf).
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“While he schemes with the D.C. swamp to send billions overseas and push for endless wars, I’ve been at work to enable President Trump to implement the America First agenda that’s reshaping America into the country we have always dreamed of,” Dans said. “Graham talks – I act.”
Although Dans’ criticisms surely hit home with Trump’s base, Trump himself recently signed off on a new shipment of arms to Ukraine and shortly thereafter mugged with Graham – whom he has repeatedly ringingly endorsed.
“They’re getting hit very hard now,” Trump said of the shipment. “We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”
In a separate statement about Graham, Trump said the senator is “working incredibly hard for the Great People of South Carolina,” adding Graham “WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.”
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While Trump polls incredibly well in South Carolina, his record of backing failed congressional candidates in South Carolina – and beyond – has repeatedly demonstrated that his blessing is far from necessary to win Republican primaries.
Endorsement or not – Dans’ campaign argues he laid the groundwork for many of Trump’s most popular second term policy initiatives.
Dans, a graduate of MIT and the University of Virginia Law School, exited a career as a high-powered corporate litigator to take a position in Trump’s first term office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but was promoted to a position overseeing millions of federal workers in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) largely because he expressed a new vision for staffing Republican administrations that he subsequently channeled into Project 2025 during Joe Biden‘s presidency.
The 922-page policy blueprint was accompanied by an internal “conservative LinkedIn” database of potential administration staffers – a playbook and technology that facilitated the second Trump administration’s vastly superior rollout of it’s agenda in the first 100 days relative to the chaos of that followed his shocking 2016 victory.
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RELATED | PROJECT 2025 ARCHITECT MULLS SENATE BID
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“(Dans’) blueprint has driven the elimination of woke DEI programs, restored biological truth in federal policy, and reinstated service members fired for refusing COVID vaccines,” his press release noted.
It further touted Trump’s characterization of these policy wins as “home runs” and “more than we could have even dared hope for.”
Dans’ campaign rhetoric echoes the policy vision that put Trump back in the White House.
“South Carolina has had enough,” he said. “We deserve a senator who fights for our values, not the military-industrial complex. A Senator who secures our border, not one who defends illegal immigration. A Senator who puts America, not Ukraine or any other foreign nation, first.”
Multiple well-connected Palmetto politicos informed FITSNews of Dans’ intention to enter the race last month. In a report breaking the news of his plans, we noted his alleged commitment of at least $5 million to his campaign. These same sources tell FITSNews Dans has continued working to secure endorsements for himself, as well as the non-endorsement of other Graham-challengers.
Dans resides in Charleston and is the father of three daughters and a son. His wife, Mary Helen Bowers, was also an appointee in Trump’s first administration and is a veteran of the prestigious New York City Ballet.
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Dans intends to formally announce his candidacy from the dungeon below Charleston’s historic Old Exchange and Provost this Wednesday (July 30, 2025).
FITSNews has given the 2026 midterm elections the moniker “Crossroads 2026” because of the opportunity for change presented by the bevy of statewide seats up for grabs this cycle. While we’re dedicated to providing our readers with the latest on every race of import, the race for Graham’s seat is likely the truest opportunity the Palmetto State has put itself – and the nation – on a different track.
Graham – a fourth-term incumbent who has never been seriously challenged – is uniquely vulnerable as his policy positions have become more out-of-touch with the electorate with each passing minute. Yet Graham’s near-infinite war-chest – and his tight grip over the grassroots operatives and party leaders who do the behind-the-scenes work that keep candidates in office – means he continues to be an electoral juggernaut, no matter how much voters detest his conduct in office.
As South Carolina’s proverbial Davids assemble their rocks and slings in preparation for an assault on the Palmetto political equivalent of Goliath, FITSNews looks forward to keeping our readers informed about this extremely important race.
We invite Dans, Bauer, Lynch, Thomas Murphy – and even Graham himself – to avail themselves our outlet’s “open microphone policy.” We encourage candidates and their supporters to submit guest columns which communicate their vision for the state’s future to our news outlet, and we look forward to hosting a number of substantive “FITSNews in Studio” interviews with the Palmetto State’s top political prospects as we approach the day of decision.
NOTE: After the publication of this article FITSNews conducted a wide-ranging telephone interview with Dans which we look forward to incorporating into our coverage of his campaign announcement this Wednesday. Stay tuned…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Via: Travis Bell)
Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.
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4 comments
This nutjob actually believed the Obama birtherism crap and that the Jan 6 domestic terrorists should not have been prosecuted. This automatically makes him a fizznews favorite.
Did he move to SC just to run for Senate? Hmm
Are we sure that this guy isn’t Jay Leno???
Project 2025?? Isn’t that the thing Trump said he did not know anything about and would not support? Was that a lie, too? That last question was not a serious one. If his mouth is open. . .
Dans “resides in Charleston.” How long has he lived here ? Does SC have a minimum residency requirement for the Senate office as it does for the Governorship?
I am thinking of Pug Ravenel’s ill-fated 1974 Governor’s race.