Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was just dealt a shocking blow to his potential re-election bid after one of MAGA’s most recognizable voices is now preparing to primary Graham for his Senate seat.
As first reported by Politico, Project 2025 architect Paul Dans announced late yesterday he is launching a bid to primary Graham in South Carolina as part of the effort to “drain the swamp” in D.C.
“What we’ve done with Project 2025 is really change the game in terms of closing the door on the progressive era,” Dans told the Associated Press (AP).
“If you look at where the chokepoint is, it’s the United States Senate. That’s the headwaters of the swamp.”
Have some news this morning:https://t.co/80rjWMyR65
— Paul Dans (@PaulDansUSA) July 28, 2025
Graham is seeking his fifth term as Republicans attempt to keep their 53-47 majority in the Senate during the 2026 midterms.
Dans said it’s “time to show him the door.”
Dans, who worked in the White House during President Donald Trump’s first term, presents a unique challenge for Graham.
Graham has already secured Trump’s endorsement but has found himself at odds with Trump on several occasions. In 2024, after Graham urged Trump to focus more on policy during his reelection campaign, Trump responded he doesn’t “care what he says.”
“Lindsey wouldn’t be elected if I didn’t endorse him,” Trump said.
Recently, Graham has been vocal in supporting Trump, including praising the president for the bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities.
Dans, an attorney who worked in the first Trump administration as White House liaison to the office of personnel management, told the AP he expects to have the support of the project’s allies as well as some of Trump’s supporters.
Chris LaCivita, senior adviser to Graham’s campaign, said in a statement Dans has “parachuted himself” into South Carolina after being “unceremoniously dumped in 2024 while trying to torpedo Donald Trump’s historic campaign.”
“Like everything Paul Dans starts, this too will end prematurely,” said LaCivita.
Despite Dans’ news of running, Graham also secured the state’s leading Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster, to chair his 2026 run.
He has amassed millions of dollars from high powered donors in his campaign account, according to an AP report.
Other candidates, including Republican former South Carolina Lt. Gov. André Bauer, a wealthy developer, and Democratic challenger Dr. Annie Andrews, have announced their campaigns for the Senate seat in an early start to the election season, more than a year away.
Graham, in an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” did not discuss his reelection campaign but fielded questions on topics including his push to release “as much as you can” from the case files on Jeffrey Epstein, something many of Trump’s supporters want the government to do.
After Trump left the White House, Dans went to work at the Heritage Foundation, often commuting on weekdays to Washington as he organized Project 2025. The nearly 1,000-page policy blueprint, with chapters written by leading conservative thinkers.