LEXINGTON, S.C. — On the eve of an election that has led to a close competition for a statewide race in South Carolina that few could have predicted, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison are making their final pitches to voters.
Graham started the third day of a statewide bus tour in Lexington, where he held a rally for about 100 supporters at the Caldwell Trusts office along Main Street. The supporters, who heard speeches from Gov. Henry McMaster, Congressman Joe Wilson, State Attorney General Alan Wilson and S.C. GOP chairman Drew McKissick, waived Lindsey Graham signs and American flags, and motorists passing by would occasionally honk their horns in support.
Later Monday, Graham had scheduled stops in Rock Hill, Spartanburg, Greeville and Clemson.
Harrison had a drive-in rally planned for Orangeburg Monday evening after The State's print deadline to conclude his underdog campaign which led to him being neck and neck in polls and leading to more than $100 million in contributions. On Saturday Harrison held a drive-in rally in Anderson, as well as an Upstate bus tour. His Sunday bus tour through the Lowcountry included stumping at socially distanced stops with Congressmen Jim Clyburn and Joe Cunningham. Harrison plans to have a bus tour with stops at polling precincts on Tuesday in Richland and Florence counties.
Graham was in a jovial mood Monday, making jokes while speaking to his supporters in Lexington, and portrayed confidence in his final sprint toward Election Day, even as a new poll out Monday showed him just two points ahead of Harrison, putting him in striking distance of his surprising challenger.
Graham also spoke about the friendship he has forged with President Donald Trump, even though they were critical of each other during the 2016 presidential primary.
"But we sat down and we talked, and I said, Mr. President, 'I'm all in for you. What can I do to help you?' and he said, 'Just be my friend. Tell me when you think I'm right, tell me when you think I'm wrong, but help me.' I think I've lived up to that. I've tried to be a friend," Graham said receiving applause from the crowd. "And I've enjoyed my time with this president."
However, Graham still polls lower than Trump, who carried the Palmetto State in 2016 by 14 points and leads Joe Biden in the latest Morning Consult poll by 7 percentage points.
"I think I'm going to do fine. We're going to win together," Graham said to reporters after his speech, referring to the president.
"This whole narrative that somehow that being with President Trump hurts me in South Carolina is just people (who) have no idea what South Carolina is about. All the stories about this race or just might as well be written about Mars. If you understand anything about South Carolina President Trump's going to win. And I'm going to win, I think we're gonna be very close together because he's delivered for our state."
Watching Graham while waiving a sign and wearing a red, white and blue mask, Margaret Eschbach, 50, of Lexington, said she was not a big Graham supporter until he stood up for Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.
"I realized that (Graham) comes from very humble beginnings," Eschbach said. "He has worked and fought. (He is) someone who has given up a lot of their youth just to raise his sister. Who does that? He is the most unselfish person. He's soft spoken when he needs to be, but he will stand up at the right moment."
However, she is nervous going into the election, because of incidents around the country of yard signs being taken away.
"People are nervous to say how they are going to vote, so you just don't know," Eschbach said.
Bonita Pikus, a Lexington County resident who attended Graham's rally, said she wouldn't support Harrison.
"I don't really agree with a lot of what he stands for," Pikus said. "I'm pro-life, so I wouldn't be able to vote for him anyway."
