A lot has changed since April.
That's the last time political reporter Jamie Lovegrove was on the podcast to talk about South Carolina's Senate race. At that time, political analysts still saw a clear path to victory for Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham.
But it was already shaping up to be a record-breaking race for fundraising. Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison was out-fundraising Graham, and it was starting to generate buzz for the race.
Now, just a few weeks out from Election Day, Harrison's campaign says he raised $57 million in the third quarter — more than any other U.S. Senate candidate in history. Cook Political Report recently moved the contest from Lean Republican to Toss Up, and, for the last couple of months, polls have shown the candidates tied.
In this episode, we break down what has happened from the spring to the fall that made this such a competitive race, how each candidate is trying to court voters and the ways everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to the effort to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court could affect the outcome.
Listen now to learn more.
And for even more background on this race, listen to our episode from the spring about this race and check out our series that poses policy questions to both candidates on topics ranging from climate change to foreign policy.
This episode is the first in a three-week series focused on the 2020 Election. Do you have questions about voting or a specific South Carolina race? We want to hear them. You can submit your questions in two ways:
All questions and recordings should be sent to understandsc@postandcourier.com before Oct. 15.
Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand our state. This episode was hosted by Emily Williams and edited by Matt Rasnic.
