Incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been declared the winner of the South Carolina U.S. Senate race, defeating Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison.
With less than half the state’s votes counted, President Donald Trump was declared the winner of the Palmetto State, yet results for the senate race lagged. At the time of this writing, Graham leads Harrison by 11 points. Democrats reportedly sent tens of millions of dollars to the state in order to tip the scales for Harrison.
Multiple outlets, including Decision Desk HQ and The Associated Press, however, called the race for Graham.
Prior to the election, the South Carolina senate race was considered a toss-up by RealClearPolitics and the Cook Political Report. It looks like it may turn out to be a blowout for Graham.
As The Daily Wire reported earlier in the day:
Back in February, before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the country, Graham had a comfortable lead in the polls, leading Harrison by double digits. When polling picked up again in July, however, Graham’s lead began to shrink to single digits or statistical ties.
The last two polls, conducted in October, show Graham leading Harrison by just a few points. The New York Times/Siena College poll, conducted between October 9 and 15, found Graham with a six-point lead. An East Carolina University poll conducted between October 24 and 25, however, showed Graham with a smaller lead of just three points.
These final two polls heading into Tuesday’s election each have margins of error over 4%. Typically, polls are less trustworthy when the margins of error are over 3%. Due to this, the support for Graham or Harrison could range anywhere from 53% for Graham and 42% for Harrison to 45% for Graham and 50% for Harrison in the ECU poll. As for the NYT/Siena poll, with a margin of error of 4.5%, the support for the two candidates ranges from 50% for Graham and 36% for Harrison to 42% for Graham and 44% for Harrison.
The Daily Wire also reported that Graham may have benefited from facing re-election during a presidential election year. With Trump taking South Carolina, Graham’s chances were likely increased.