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U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lindsey GrahamIncumbent	55.3%	672,941
	Democratic	Brad Hutto	37.6%	456,726
	Libertarian	Victor Kocher	2.8%	33,839
	Independent	Thomas Ravenel	3.9%	47,588
	N/A	Write-in	0.4%	4,774
Total Votes				1,215,868
Source:South Carolina State Election Commission

2014 U.S. Senate Elections in South Carolina

General Election Date November 4, 2014

Primary Date June 10, 2014

November 4 Election Winner: Lindsey Graham

Incumbent prior to election: Lindsey Graham

Race Ratings Cook Political Report:Solid Republican[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball:Safe R[2]

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2014 U.S. House Elections

Voters inSouth Carolinaelected one member to theU.S. Senate in theelection on November 4, 2014. IncumbentLindsey Graham defeatedDemocratBrad Hutto,LibertarianVictor Kocher and former state treasurer of South CarolinaThomas Ravenel, a convicted felon and reality TV star, in the general election.

Primary: Aprimary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. South Carolina utilizes anopen primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary. Voters must take an oath affirming that they have not voted in another party's primary.^[3]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, seethis article.

Voter registration: Tovote in the primary, voters had to register by May 10, 2014. For thegeneral election, the voter registration deadline was October 4, 2014.^[4]

See also:South Carolina elections, 2014

Incumbent: Heading into the election was incumbentLindsey Graham (R). Graham was first elected in 2002.

Candidates

General election candidates

• Lindsey Grahama^[5]
• Brad Hutto^[5]
• Victor Kocher
• Thomas Ravenel^[6]

June 10, 2014, primary results

Third Party Candidates

• Victor Kocher^[13]
• Thomas Ravenel - Former State Treasurer of S.C. Ravenel said he would run, if Graham won theRepublican primary, which he did.^[14][15]

Election results

General election

U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lindsey GrahamIncumbent	55.3%	672,941
	Democratic	Brad Hutto	37.6%	456,726
	Libertarian	Victor Kocher	2.8%	33,839
	Independent	Thomas Ravenel	3.9%	47,588
	N/A	Write-in	0.4%	4,774
Total Votes				1,215,868
Source:South Carolina State Election Commission

Republican primary

IncumbentLindsey Graham won the Republican primary on June 10, 2014.^[5]

U.S. Senate, South Carolina Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Lindsey GrahamIncumbent	56.4%	178,093
Lee Bright	15.4%	48,704
Richard Cash	8.3%	26,246
Det Bowers	7.3%	23,071
Nancy Mace	6.2%	19,560
Bill Connor	5.3%	16,847
Benjamin Dunn	1%	3,195
Total Votes		315,716
Source:Results via Associated Press

Democratic primary

Brad Hutto defeatedJay Stamper in theDemocratic primary.^[5]

U.S. Senate, South Carolina Democratic Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Brad Hutto	76.6%	87,154
Jay Stamper	23.4%	26,579
Total Votes		113,733
Source:Results via Associated Press

Race background

Debate

Only two of the four Senate candidates met in a debate held on October 13, 2014.LibertarianVictor Kocher was not invited, and incumbentLindsey Graham did not attend the debate because "he didn't want to be on the same stage as former state treasurer Ravenel, who left office in 2007 because of a drug charge, was convicted of a felony and has since become a reality TV star with his showSouthern Charm, according toThe Sun Herald.Brad Hutto (D) andThomas Ravenel (I) each attacked Graham for not showing up to debate and for what they argued was his willingness to send U.S. troops overseas.^[16]

Primary vulnerability

Graham was named byNational Journal as one of the top five incumbent senators at risk of losing his or her primary election in 2014. Four of the five most vulnerable senators were Republican.^[17]

AR-15 raffle

In January 2014,Lee Bright (R) announced via an email to supporters that he would raffle off an AR-15 gun on February 15, 2014. Bright wrote in the email:

"In the wake of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Conn., gun-grabbers were sure they had the votes to ram gun control into law. Thanks to the action of Second Amendment supporters all over the country, their scheme failed — even despite my Republican primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham."^[18]

Bowers' controversial sermon

Bowers argued in one of his sermons delivered at Christ Church of the Carolinas that in many cases of divorce, husbands leave their wives because their wives love their children more than their husbands. In the sermon he stated, “Do you hear me ladies? It is an abominable idolatry to love your children more than you love your husband, and it will ruin your marriage. And yet you blame it on him because he ran off with some other woman! He did run off with some other woman, and you packed his bags. All of his emotional bags, you packed for him. Is that true in every case? No, but it’s true in the vast preponderance of them."^[19]Bowers' full sermon can be foundhere.

Key votes

Below are important votes that Graham cast during the113th Congress.

Economy

Farm bill

On February 4, 2014, theDemocratic controlledSenate approved the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013,H.R. 2642, also known as theFarm Bill.^[20] It passed theSenate with a vote of 68-32. The nearly 1,000-page bill reformed and continued various programs of the Department of Agriculture through 2018. The $1 trillion bill expanded crop insurance for farmers by $7 billion over the next decade and created new subsidies for rice and peanut growers that will kick in when prices drop; however, cuts to the food stamp program cut an average of $90 per month for 1.7 million people in 15 states.^[21] Graham joined with 19 otherRepublicansenators in favor of the bill.

2014 Budget

On January 16, 2014, theDemocratic-controlledSenate approvedH.R. 3547, a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2014.^[22][23] TheSenate voted 72-26 for the 1,582 page bill, with 17Republicans and 55Democrats voting in favor of the bill.^[23] The omnibus package included 12 annual spending bills to fund federal operations.^[24] It included a 1 percent increase in the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel, a $1 billion increase in Head Start funding for early childhood education, reduced funding to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency and left theAffordable Care Act without any drastic cuts. Graham voted with the 17Republican and the 55Democratic members in favor of the bill.^[22][23]

Government shutdown

See also:United States budget debate, 2013

Graham donated his salary to the Wounded Warriors Project while the government was shutdown.^[25]

During the shutdown in October 2013, theSenate rejected, down party lines, every House-originated bill that stripped the budget of funding for the Affordable Care Act. A deal was reached late on October 16, 2013, just hours before the debt ceiling deadline. The bill to reopen the government, H.R. 2775, lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made bySenate Democrats was to require income verification forObamacare subsidies.^[26] The final vote on H.R. 2775 was 81-18, with all 18 votes against the bill fromRepublican members. Graham voted with theDemocratic Party for the bill.^[27]

No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013

Graham voted for H.R.325 -- No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013. The bill passed the Senate on January 31, 2013, with a vote of 64 - 34. The purpose of the bill was to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling and withhold the pay of members of Congress until a budget could be passed. The vote largely followed party lines with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting it and many Republicans in opposition to the bill.^[28]

Immigration

Mexico-U.S. border

Graham voted against Senate Amendment 1197 -- Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border. The amendment was rejected by the Senate on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 39 - 54. The purpose of the amendment was to require the completion of 350 miles of fence described in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 before registered provisional immigrant status may be granted. It would also require 700 miles of fence be completed before the status of registered provisional immigrants may be changed to permanent resident status. The vote followed party lines.^[29]

Media

Lindsey Graham

Darline ads

Graham released two television ads and two radio ads featuring his younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone on May 20, 2014. Graham Nordone described how her brother Lindsey took care of her while her parents were working and after her parents died when she was only 13 years old. Darline said, “It was hard when we lost my mom and my dad. Lindsey assured me that he was going to take care of me, he was going to be there for me. He never let me down. Never. I don’t see how he did it, to take on the responsibility of raising a little sister. That came from within for Lindsey.”^[30]

Brad Hutto

Thomas Ravenel

Richard Cash

Polls

General election

Republican primary

Endorsements

Republican primary

Lindsey Graham

Graham was endorsed by the following organizations:

• National Right to Life and S.C. Citizens for Life.^[31]

Brad Hutto

The South Carolina Democratic Party endorsed Brad Hutto.^[32]

According toThe State, South Carolina Democratic Party leaders could not endorse Stamper because of his "felony convictions from 2008 for selling unregistered securities in Nevada."^[32]

Stamper responded to losing the endorsement to Hutto with the following comments: "The endorsement is consistent with Jaime Harrison's belief that we need to act like Republicans to be elected as Democrats. On a positive note, at least the state party is apparently no longer supporting Lindsey Graham, a departure from a year ago when it effectively endorsed him in a press release as 'one of the few federal elected officials in South Carolina who actually works to try to get things done to help our state's families and businesses.'"^[32]

Campaign contributions

Candidate ballot access
Find detailed information onballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Lindsey Graham

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with theFederal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Graham's reports.^[33]

Brad Hutto

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with theFederal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Hutto's reports.^[41]

Victor Kocher

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with theFederal Election Commission during the2014 elections season. Below are Kocher's reports.^[45]

Thomas Ravenel

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with theFederal Election Commission during the2014 elections season. Below are Ravenel's reports.^[47]

Nancy Mace

Candidates for Congress were required to file reports with theFederal Election Commission during the2014 elections season. Below are Mace's reports.

Lee Bright

Candidates for Congress were required to file reports with theFederal Election Commission during the2014 elections season. Below are Bright's reports.

Richard Cash

Candidates for Congress were required to file reports with theFederal Election Commission during the2014 elections season. Below are Cash's reports.

Jay Stamper

Candidates for Congress were required to file reports with theFederal Election Commission during the2014 elections season. Below are Stamper's reports.

Election history

2008

On November 4, 2008, Graham won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Bob Conley in the general election.^[64]

U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lindsey GrahamIncumbent	57.7%	1,076,534
	Democratic	Bob Conley	42.3%	790,621
Total Votes				1,867,155

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 2014
• United States Senate special election in South Carolina, 2014
• United States Senate elections, 2014
• United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 2014

External links

• South Carolina Candidate Search

Footnotes

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