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by WILL FOLKS
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The calculus for those seeking to unseat incumbent U.S. senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina is pretty simple. First and most importantly, Graham must be held to less than fifty percent of the vote on June 9, 2026 – which is when Republican primary-goers cast their initial ballots across the Palmetto State.
If Graham draws a majority of votes on June 9 – he becomes the Republican nominee and is practically assured of winning another six-year term in office (his fifth).
If the notorious warmonger is held below fifty percent, though, he would face the No. 2 vote-getter in a head-to-head runoff election on June 23, 2026 – which is where things could get interesting.
That brings us to the second part of the calculus for defeating Graham: being the No. 2 vote-getter on June 9.
As the battle to face Graham mano a mano takes shape, tensions between his two announced opponents are rising – with former Project 2025 architect Paul Dans assailing Upstate businessman Mark Lynch in a torrent of social media posts sent in the early morning hours on Friday (February 20, 2026).
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At approximately 2:14 a.m. EST on Friday, Dans posted a screenshot of a text message purportedly sent by Lynch campaign consultant Noel Fritsch to an unknown recipient last August.
“Need Dans info ASAP,” Fritsch wrote to the recipient, per the screenshot, later adding “need to know where his kids attend school.”
Dans went apoplectic in response…
“Mark Lynch has about thirty seconds to drop out of this race before I put him in his very short place,” Dans wrote on X. “There are rules of engagement that have been broken that amends cannot be made. He hired the wrong people who do not understand the southern way of doing things. He sent thugs to follow my little girls to school. To be clear this isn’t about politics it’s about CHARACTER and you fuck with my girls and I will fucking bury you.”
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You know what this isn’t about politics it’s a matter of honor. Stay in the race and live with what you did you tiny little 5 foot 4 girl of a man. Let’s see how the people of South Carolina react. You are an op and a worm. This is a matter of honor and you have none. Noel… https://t.co/ktd5HPVAMN pic.twitter.com/Mgigv9JkWn
— Paul Dans for US Senate (@DansForSenate) February 20, 2026
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“Lynch, never touch my family,” Dans added.
Dans went on to call Lynch a “5-foot-4 girl of a man” as well as a “worm.”
Hours earlier, Dans’ wife – famous ballerina Mary Helen Bowers – was targeted with a bizarre post from credibility-challenged South Carolina blogger Lee Granade. The post from Granade – whose reports often miss the mark wildly – implied a connection between Bowers and Karyna Shuliak, a girlfriend and beneficiary of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Granade published the article after Bowers discussed the horrors of the Epstein Files alongside her husband on our FITSPolitic show this Wednesday evening (February 18, 2026).
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#FITSPolitic??: Our @TheWillFolks talking with @PaulDansUSA and his wife, Mary Helen Bowers (@BalletBeautiful), about the #EpsteinFiles and the need for accountability… pic.twitter.com/rSwrEUyHZo
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) February 19, 2026
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Curiously, after linking Shuliak and Bowers on her platform, Granade stated toward the end of her article “it seems that the client who was discussed on the video was probably not Shuliak.”
Nonetheless, multiple sources told FITSNews this allegation was being circulated widely by Lynch’s campaign in the hopes of ginning up additional bad press for Dans.
As for Lynch, he pulled no punches in his response to the situation.
“Paul Dans is a desperate, jobless, carpetbagger from Maryland and New York City sent here to protect Lindsey Graham, so he will lie and say anything to distract from the fact that he is a northerner,” Lynch told FITSNews.
Meanwhile, one Lynch supporter accused Dans of deflecting from legitimate questions about his residency.
“This is so dishonest,” conservative activist (and former U.S. Senate candidate) Lauren Witzke wrote on X. “Noel was asking that because your kids go to school in Maryland, proving that you are not a South Carolina native. Had nothing to do with ‘stalking.'”
As Palmetto politicos began flocking to social media to track the barbs, Dans’ campaign issued a formal statement on the dust-up.
“Paul Dans will go to any meeting, event, debate, forum, roundtable, whatever, with little 4-foot, 11-inch Mark Lynch and his daddy’s company – or Lindsey Graham,” the statement noted. “Our civility has limits and an expiration date. It is absolutely reprehensible to go after another man’s wife and kids, and make no mistake, Mark Lynch, unprovoked, went after Paul Dan’s wife and kids. That is unacceptable and absolutely not how we do things in South Carolina. Mark Lynch should drop out of this Senate race immediately.”
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11 comments
Both of these guys are pieces of crap. So is Graham, for that matter. They should all take a long walk off a short pier.
Republican races are the best. A bunch of lunatics running the state into the ground and the voters pulling that R lever the whole damn way…
Given a choice between a Christian and a person who has no problem using the F word, I’m voting for the Christian. Character matters. If Dans is so concerned about his children why is his behavior so crude? Monkey see, monkey do.
Cool, so you’re not voting since none of them are Christian. Let’s see if that holds.
Joyce is absolutely right. I did an AI search on the question: do Democrats use exponentially more expletives than Republicans do? The answer was, absolutely! A data test on X showed 3 out of 10 words in left-leaning posts were profanities, usually the F-bomb. Right-leaning posts were less than 1%. I’m not saying Dans is a Democrat, but he sure doesn’t sound like a Christian or an authentic conservative to me. Lynch is consistently both.
PassedOver, Lynch has been a deacon for his church for many years and is a very visible and outspoken Christian. Wake up.
It’s seems there are no good Republican candidates so vote Annie Andrews.
The democrat who thinks mutilating children to become the opposite sex is ok? Nope
I second Anonymous’ comment. Kids need mental health treatment, not their body parts removed. Voting democrat is stupid.
Will make his best effort to turn his blog into the National Enquirer…..
I saw Paul Dans at the Lancaster GOP meeting. He is an isolationist , said he did not back Trump’s mission in Venezuela. Did not back Trump on Greenland . I met Mark Lynch last year , he did not know me and even when nobody was looking he helped me out . Mark is a man of his word
Hmm, I think Dans could’ve handled this a little better, sometimes going on a tirade on X makes you look like the worst person. Finding out where his kids are enrolled in school is a legitmate request if his residency is in question.