Contender Paul Dans, associated with Project 2025, is set to go head-to-head with Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina's Senate race.
American Conservative Operative Challenges Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina Primary
Paul Dans, an American lawyer and conservative operative, has announced his challenge against Sen. Lindsey Graham in the South Carolina Republican primary. Known for leading Project 2025, an initiative by the Heritage Foundation, Dans aims to reshape the federal government around right-wing policies in the event of a potential Trump 2024 victory.
Project 2025 is a comprehensive, 900-page blueprint developed to rethink and restructure U.S. governance along conservative lines. The plan includes radical conservative reforms intended to severely limit the role of the federal government and reverse many established regulations and policies from recent decades.
Dans, with a background in economics, city planning, and law, has experience in the Trump administration and was a Federalist Society leader in law school. His family background is academically and professionally distinguished, with close connections to conservative political circles.
Dans frames the Senate as the “headwaters of the swamp” and believes changing its makeup is critical. His challenge to Graham—who has secured Trump’s endorsement and is supported by other key South Carolina Republicans—reflects divisions within the Republican Party, particularly around loyalty to Trump and approaches to governance.
The primary may become a proxy battle between Trump loyalists and more traditional GOP elements, affecting voter turnout and alliances. Dans has the backing of Project 2025 allies and some Trump supporters, aiming to position himself as the more authentic conservative alternative to Graham.
The association with Project 2025 appeals to the far-right base focused on radical conservative reforms, offering a distinct policy contrast to Graham. Graham's institutional advantages and Trump’s endorsement may pose significant hurdles for Dans’ campaign.
Dans has criticised Graham for being a 70-year-old childless individual and having no stake in the future of the country. He has also criticised Graham for previously affirming Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election, signaling potential future attacks during the primary campaign.
Dans suggests that the blueprint could demonstrate Trump's MAGA credentials to South Carolina Republican voters. He spent the next few years at the Heritage Foundation after leaving the first Trump administration, where he spearheaded Project 2025.
Andre Bauer, a former South Carolina Lt. Gov., is also running in the GOP primary against Lindsey Graham. Despite being seen as a liability for Trump, many of Trump's early actions as president aligned with Project 2025's proposals, according to a CNN review.
However, criticism of Project 2025 intensified, leading to Trump distancing himself from it and Dans being pushed out of Heritage. Dans criticised Graham for confirming judicial nominees put forth by Barack Obama and Joe Biden during their presidencies.
Dans will formally launch his campaign with a prayer breakfast in Charleston on Wednesday. He emphasised that the battle goes on, and that he was able to work with thousands of patriots to make the next conservative president hit the ground running, and that this is what Trump and his team did. Dans stated that his challenge to Graham shows that he is the more loyal and authentic conservative candidate.
- The challenge from Paul Dans, a conservative operative, to Sen. Lindsey Graham in the South Carolina primary is reflecting divisions within the Republican Party, particularly around loyalty to Trump and approaches to governance, offering a distinct policy contrast to Graham, who has been widely criticized for confirming judicial nominees put forth by Barack Obama and Joe Biden during their presidencies.
- The primary may become a proxy battle between traditional GOP elements and Trump loyalists, as Dans has the backing of Project 2025 allies and some Trump supporters, aiming to position himself as the more authentic conservative alternative to Graham, whose institutional advantages and Trump’s endorsement may pose significant hurdles for Dans’ campaign.
- In addition to the primary race, classic politics, general news, and crime-and-justice topics are still at the forefront, such as car-accidents, fires, and policymaking affecting the lives of South Carolinian citizens, with Dans suggesting that the Project 2025 blueprint could demonstrate Trump's MAGA credentials to South Carolina Republican voters.
- Migration and war-and-conflicts also play a role in the ongoing political discourse, as Dans, with a background in economics, city planning, and law, has experience in the Trump administration and was a Federalist Society leader in law school, focusing on conservative and radical reforms.
- The Senate is under close scrutiny, as Dans frames the Senate as the “headwaters of the swamp” and believes changing its makeup is critical to reshaping the federal government around right-wing policies in the event of a potential Trump 2024 victory, following Project 2025, a 900-page blueprint developed to rethink and restructure U.S. governance along conservative lines.
