Lindsey Graham
Bio | Lindsey Graham has been serving as the U.S. Senator for South Carolina and is the Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and then served as the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in the U.S. Air Force. |
Status and Position | Current US Senator of South Carolina |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Republican, South Carolina |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Senate Election South Carolina 1 | South Carolina 1 | Yes | Running | 47.0% |
Campaign Financing | In 2015, Graham emerged as a prominent opponent of money in politics, ever going as far as to argue in favor of a constitutional amendment to reduce the influence of super PACS. However, in his own elections, Graham has not demonstrated any opposition to accepting campaign contributions from PACs and lobbyists. |
Voting Rights | Graham has opposed a number of electoral reform measures, including ones that propose abolishing the Electoral College and abolishing voter ID laws. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | Against | Graham has spoken against universal healthcare on multiple occasions. Graham is particularly critical of the Medicare-for-All plan. |
| Socialized Healthcare | Against | Graham is a strong opponent of socialized healthcare, and supporting repealing the Affordable Care Act. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Graham is critical of proposals to abolish private health insurance and does not believe that healthcare should become federalized. |
| LGBT Rights | Against | Graham has opposed a number of policies intended to achieve equality for LGBT people. He has also been accused of using anti-LGBT rhetoric. Graham was supportive of a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman. In defense of his opposition to same-sex marriage, he drew comparisons between marriage equality and slavery. He also voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would protect LGBT workers from being fired on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity, and voted against a bill that would allow same-sex couples in the District of Columbia to adopt children. |
| Taxes | Against | Graham is generally an opponent to high taxes and has spoken in favor of tax cuts. Graham was a strong supporter of the 2017 GOP tax cuts. He also voted against a bill that would raise taxes for Americans making over $1 million annually. |
| Flat Tax Rate | For | Graham has previously advocated for a flat-rate tax on income. Graham was a strong supporter of the 2017 GOP tax cuts. He also voted against a bill that would raise taxes for Americans making over $1 million annually. |
| Abortion | Against | Graham is a pro-life candidate with a lengthy history of supporting anti-choice legislation. In 2015, Graham introduced a piece of legislation that would place a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks. He is also supportive of the Mexico City Policy, which blocks federal aid from being granted to international NGOs that provide/advocate for abortion services. |
| Gun Control | Against | Graham has voted against a number of gun control measures in the Senate. Gun control legislation opposed by Graham includes measures to expand background checks and ban high-capacity magazines. |
| Assisted Suicide | Against | Graham cosponsored a bill in 1997 to prohibit funding for health services that might intend to assist someone in dying. Gun control legislation opposed by Graham includes measures to expand background checks and ban high-capacity magazines. |
| Government Interference | Against | Graham is generally opposed to government involvement, and opposes regulations on gun ownership and environmental and economic activities, among other things. |
| Planned Parenthood | Against | Graham is an outspoken opponent of Planned Parenthood and has voted to defund it on multiple occasions. |
| Welfare | Against | Graham has been critical of multiple welfare programs and has supported multiple pieces of legislation that would decrease eligibility for welfare. Graham was supportive of an initiative to place a two year limit on welfare eligibility and impose work requirements on welfare recipients. He also supported prohibiting the allocation of social resources to mothers under the age of 18, which he argued would disincentivize teen pregnancy. He has also frequently advocated to reduce the allocation of funds to welfare programs. |
| Welfare | Against | Graham voted against a 2006 bill that would allow the use of federal funds to conduct embryonic stem cell research. |
| Death Penalty | For | Graham has advocated to expand the list of crimes punishable by death. Graham generally votes in favor of legislation that aims to uphold the death penalty. For instance, he voted against an amendment that would require that life sentences be applied instead of the death penalty in cases where the guilt of the convicted is not certain. He also voted against a bill that advocated for the protection of habeas corpus rights in death penalty appeal cases. Graham has also pushed to extend the application of capital punishment to human traffickers and has advocated against initiatives to streamline the appeals process for death penalty cases. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | Graham was supportive of the First Step Act, which included measures to reduce the application of mandatory minimums. |
| Military Spending | For | Graham supports increasing the defense budget. |
| War on Terrorism | For | Graham was an initial supporter of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan following 9/11 and has since been supportive of anti-terrorism measures. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Graham has been an advocate of American leadership on the international stage. Graham has frequently spoken about his belief in the role of America as a global leader. He has also made a statement warning against isolationism, calling it a 'dangerous' foreign policy strategy. |
| United Nations power | Against | Graham has frequently been critical of the positions of the UN, and has advocated to revoke US funding of the institution. |
| Nationalism | Against | Graham has been critical of Trump-esque nationalism and has called on the president to distance himself from white nationalist groups, warning that history would not look fondly upon white nationalism. |
| Free Markets | Nuance | While Graham has generally been a defender of free-markets on the national level, he has a mixed record of promoting free-market principles on the global stage. On international trade, Graham has previously supported protectionist trade measures such as tariffs. Most recently, he defended President Trump's trade war against China. |
| Brexit | Nuance | Following the 2016 Brexit vote, Graham released a statement indicating that he respects the outcome of the vote. However, the statement ended by saying that although he understood Britain's frustration with the EU, that withdrawing from allies should generally be cautioned against and that he hopes the vote would not lead to an era of British isolationism. |
| Affirmative Action | Against | Graham was given an 11% rating from the NAACP on the issue of affirmative action, indicating strong opposition. |
| Government Spending | Against | Graham typically supports reduced federal spending, although he has advocated to shift funds around to allow for more monetary allocations to the defense budget. |
| Charter Schools | For | Graham has supported grants to fund charter schools in South Carolina. |
| Common Core | Against | Graham opposes Common Core standards. Graham adamantly opposes Common Core standards, and instead believes that states should be left to develop their own education standards. |
| Clean Energy | Nuance | While Graham is more sympathetic to environmental causes than many of his Republican colleagues, he is yet to embrace any plan to transition the US to renewable energy. Graham has expressed his belief in man-made climate change and has accordingly admitted that there is need for increased use of clean energy. However, he has neglected to throw his full support behind any legislation that would encourage the production and use of renewable energy. |
| Religious Freedom | For | Graham is for religious freedoms Graham has stated in an example that religions have a right to practice their faiths and stay tax exempt, even if they refuse marriages for LGBT members. |
| Separation of Church and State | Unknown | Has made no clear stance on this issue. |
| Slavery Reparations | Against | Graham has stated that it is not the responsibility for us what happened 150 years ago. He stated that we can only keep moving forward and that this will solve nothing. |
| Border Control | For | Graham is for border security and control. Graham does not believe that undocumented immigrants should be able to claim asylum, although he has stated that immigration fuels our economy. He has also stated that those who stay must learn "our language." Has also voted for the Secure and Succeed Act. |
| Passenger Profiling | Against | Graham has co-sponsored the Aviation Security Act. |
| DACA | For | Voted for the Uniting and Securing America Act which would let anyone under the age of 18 when brought to the states citizens if they meet certain requirements. |
| Sanctuary Cities | Against | Voted for the Dangerous Sanctuary Cities act. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | Nuance | Has backed bills and acts against legalizing this, but also co sponsored the CARERS Act. |