In 2003, I served as the SCGOP Deputy Political Director. A year earlier, as an intern and staff member, I helped elect a slate of Republican candidates. We ran the table that year, ousting Democratic Governor Jim Hodges. Only two Democrats won statewide. And Lindsey Graham succeeded Strom Thurmond.

Graham’s success left me beaming. He’d been my Congressman since I was a high school freshman at Westside High School in Anderson County, South Carolina. He’d served in the Air Force and was a lawyer, career paths I would later follow. And he’d put on a stellar performance to a national…