GREENVILLE, S.C. — A U.S. Senate debate between Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic candidate Jaime Harrison turned into a forum, after the two sides couldn't come to an agreement over COVID-19 testing. And because of the change, what was to have been a face-to-face contest of ideas turned largely into an interview session with both candidates.
The two campaigns bickered all day Friday over whether Graham should take a coronavirus test after Harrison asked for that to be a condition of the contest. Finally, debate organizers came up with the compromise where the two would not appear on stage together. Instead, each side got about 25 minutes with a host and two panelists.
Graham, the Republican incumbent, is seeking his fourth term in the Senate. Harrison, a Democrat is hoping to win his first seat in elected office.
Graham has been in Congress since 1995 after a career as a military lawyer. He first served in the U.S. House until he ran in 2002 to succeed the retiring Strom Thurmond. Harrison is the former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party and has worked as a lobbyist.
Thursday night, Harrison called on Graham to take a COVID-19 test ahead of Friday’s debate, saying Graham had been in the presence of at least two U.S. Senators just eight days ago who have tested positive.
Graham’s campaign responded Thursday night saying that, weeks ago, he “agreed to [the debate] rules and will continue to abide by them.”
In the statement, the campaign said Graham “took a COVID-19 test last week after a Judiciary Committee hearing.”
The race is already the most expensive in South Carolina political history, with millions of dollars already spent on TV and online ads with plenty more expected to be spent in the comings weeks.
Recent polls have showed the race to be very close, which is unusual for South Carolina, which has been a Republican lock for statewide offices for almost 20 years. The last time a Democrat won a U.S. Senate seat was back in 1998, when Fritz Hollings won his final term in office.
