[homoe]

Lindsey Graham started the summer with more cash in the bank than any Republican senator other than Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But now he’s begging for money. Twice on Thursday, Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, went on Fox News Channel and implored viewers to donate to his campaign against Democrat Jaime Harrison in South Carolina, a closer-than-expected contest that Republicans need to win to protect their majority. “I’m getting overwhelmed,” Graham told conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity Thursday night. “LindseyGraham.com. Help me. They’re killing me, money-wise. Help me. You helped me last week — help me again. LindseyGraham.com.”

The story of how Graham became so desperate for cash illustrates the expensive, toss-up battle to control the Senate and the energy around President Donald Trump’s pending Supreme Court nomination. Grassroots Democrats are hyperactivated to take on Republican leaders like Graham, who once burnished a moderate reputation but has aligned closely with Trump.

Graham’s pleas have escalated over the past week since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, but trouble has been looming for the third-term senator for some time now. Harrison has outraised and outspent Graham in every fundraising period this year, and the polls have the candidates running neck and neck, despite Trump’s lead over Joe Biden in the state.