South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison says he has raised $1.5M for Senate bid

Democrat Jaime Harrison has raised $1.5 million for his bid to oust Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) next year, a sizable haul for a candidate who announced his campaign about a month ago.

Harrison, a Democratic National Committee official and former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, confirmed the second-quarter total to The Hill. Roughly $1.3 million was raised in the second quarter of 2019.

{mosads}In a subsequent email to reporters, Harrison’s campaign said the fundraising haul came from more than 60,000 contributions, including 57,100 in the second quarter. The average donation size was $26.

Candidates for federal office have until July 15 to report their second-quarter fundraising totals to the Federal Election Commission.

Harrison announced his challenge to Graham in the final days of May, and has said it could take about $10 million to defeat the three-term incumbent. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is backing Harrison’s bid.

Graham won his most recent reelection campaign, in 2014, by more than 15 points, and President Trump beat Hillary Clinton in South Carolina by more than 14 points that same year.

But Harrison has pointed to the recent Democratic victories in other red states, like Kansas, to argue that he’s within striking distance of Graham.

The 2020 Democratic presidential nominating contest may provide a potential boost to Harrison. South Carolina is a crucial early primary state and has drawn significant attention from those seeking the party’s nomination. Democrats argue that the primary contest could bolster the party’s candidates down ballot.

Updated at 9:30 a.m.