Challenger to Lindsey Graham in U.S. Senate race drops out. Here’s who
Project 2025 writer Paul Dans dropped his bid against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham Friday afternoon, he announced on social media.
Dans also endorsed Mark Lynch, another Republican running for U.S. Senate.
Dans, who worked in President Donald Trump’s first administration, filed to run two weeks ago in Columbia. Candidates had to pay $10,440 to run for a six-year term to the U.S. Senate, the most expensive filing fee in the state.
He announced his campaign over the summer and raised just over $275,000 by the end of 2025. Dans picked up an endorsement from conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
Dans helped write the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a detailed blueprint to downsize the federal government and implement other social conservative priorities. He also worked in Trump’s first administration as the White House liaison at the office of personnel management.
Before Dans’ announcement, Trump reiterated his support for Graham on social media.
“Paul Dans has just dropped out of the South Carolina Senatorial Race against the Great Lindsey Graham,” Trump wrote Friday afternoon. He also took a swing at Carlson, saying his endorsement was the “kiss of death” for Dans.
Dans lives in Charleston with his wife, Mary Helen Bowers, and five children, including a newborn.
A call and email to Dans’ campaign were not immediately returned on Friday.
Here’s who is still running in the U.S. Senate race, according to the S.C. Election Commission:
Republican candidates
- Calvin Cowen
- Thomas Keith Dismukes
- Lindsey Graham
- Pat Herrmann
- Mark Lynch
- Darius L Mitchell
Democratic candidates
- Annie Andrews
- Brandon Brown
- Kyle Freeman
Third party candidates
- Jason Brenkus
- Mark Hackett
- Kasie Whitener
The primaries for the Republican and Democratic parties’ nominations are June 9.