Harrison slams ‘lavish’ Graham campaign spending on private golf clubs, planes in TV ad
In a seven-figure ad buy, the Jaime Harrison campaign is attacking U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s spending on “lavish” travel during his time as a senator.
The ad, which began airing on Wednesday, calls out Graham, a Seneca Republican, for spending nearly $1 million of campaign money on “fancy trips” and golf outings, among other expenses. Harrison’s campaign said the ad was at least $1 million, but did not say how long the TV spot would be on the airwaves.
The ad comes just a week after the Graham campaign released a TV ad hitting Harrison, Graham’s Democratic challenger in November, for his out of state donors.
Harrison’s 30-second spot contrasts the image of Graham as a “lavish” spender to the senator’s opposition to extending the $600 a week federal unemployment benefit, which expired on July 31. That benefit was put in place after the coronavirus pandemic swept the country, leading to closed businesses and massive layoffs.
Federal lawmakers are negotiating whether to continue the federal unemployment supplement at the same level or whether to reduce it.
Graham has said the federal supplemental unemployment benefit led to some people making more on unemployment than what they earned before being laid off. Graham has said unemployment should be capped at 100% of a person’s regular earnings.
“Lindsey Graham has no problem spending lavishly on what he wants, like private planes and golf outings,” campaign spokesperson Guy King said. “Yet when South Carolinians need his help to withstand the worst economic downturn in a century, he fights against them. “
Running statewide is expensive. Graham’s campaign during this election cycle alone has spent $14.1 million as of June 30, according to the Federal Election Commission. The ad highlights spending during the last 17 years Graham has been a senator.
Harrison’s campaign provided The State with details of more than $212,600 worth of Graham expenses at country clubs and on flights since 2003, citing Federal Election Commission campaign reports. The campaign added that Graham has spent nearly $700,000 on hotels around the country while in the U.S. Senate and during his 2016 presidential bid.
Some of the campaign expenses the Harrison campaign flagged include $16,000 at a resort in Georgia in 2005, $12,000 at a country club in Oregon in 2015, a $3,350 expense at a country club in Sumter in 2014, and $3,200 at a country club in Myrtle Beach.
Graham’s campaign said most of the expenses at country clubs or golf clubs were for catering inside of the banquet halls.
Harrison’s campaign also pointed to a $39,000 private plane expense in May 2014, which the Graham campaign said was to fly out former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Greenville for a 1,000-person luncheon. Graham never was on the plane.
Graham’s campaign also said the Harrison ad implies Graham uses taxpayer money for the “lavish” expenses, which is not true, said Graham spokesman T.W. Arrighi.
Arrighi noted that Graham’s office, from 2003-2019, has returned more than $4 million of his budgeted office allotment back to the U.S. Treasury.
“This false ad is an attempt by Jaime Harrison — who is backed by Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and a host of groups that want to Defund the Police — to mislead voters and hide the fact that he’s too liberal for South Carolina,” Arrighi said.
Harrison’s new ad also says Graham voted three times to raise his own pay in 1999, 2000 and 2001 when the now third-term senator was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
But that characterization lacks context for the pay raises and omits more recent actions to stop those increases.
Federal lawmakers receive automatic cost of living pay raises every year unless they vote to block them. Congress has blocked its annual cost of living raises since 2009.
The three pay raises in question kicked in as part of annual appropriations bills for the Treasury Department, postal service and other governmental operations. All of the legislation passed with at least 250 votes, and efforts to stop the automatic raises did not come to the floor for a vote in at least two of the years.
The congressional raises Harrison’s campaign flagged also took place in years when there was a federal budget surplus.
The campaign ads coming from both camps are early salvos in what will be a long and hard fought campaign to win over voters. Neither campaign shows any sign of pulling punches.
Graham’s campaign recently released its own television attack ad pointing to how 93% Harrison’s donations come from outside of South Carolina, including 22% of itemized contributions from California.
The Graham campaign says Harrison’s contributions from people in Hollywood are evidence that Harrison is not in line with the values of South Carolinians.
“Jaime Harrison’s playbook is clear: Raise money from West Coast liberals who hate Lindsey Graham and use the money to blanket South Carolina with ads that avoid his radical positions on the issues,” Arrighi said.
Graham also raises most of his money from outside of the state. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 85% of Graham’s contributions during this election cycle were from out of state.
“I’m not surprised Lindsey Graham is airing a childish ad about a board game to attack Jaime Harrison, since these days all he does is play Washington games that benefit himself and his wealthy campaign contributors,” King said.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 3:39 PM.
