Updated June 1, 2015 12:12 p.m. ET
Sen. Lindsey Graham entered the 2016 presidential race on Monday, pledging to make national security the focus of his campaign and to force other Republican candidates to talk about defense.
Mr. Graham is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, a longtime military attorney and a defense hawk who recently returned from duty in Afghanistan and a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. His campaign theme is security through strength, which he says includes a more forceful response to threats by Islamic State and other radicals he says are “running wild.”
“They are large, they are rich, they are entrenched,” Mr. Graham said. “As president, I will make them small, poor and on the run.”
The three-term South Carolina senator announced his candidacy in front of what was once the pool hall run by his parents in the tiny town of Central. He was flanked by family, friends and busloads of schoolchildren in the conservative Upstate district he has represented for more than three decades.
In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Graham joins eight other candidates who have roundly criticized the Obama administration’s national security policy, but his critiques have been especially long-running, detailed and consistent. Mr. Graham has pushed for increased military spending and says the U.S. should break off talks with Iran and increase sanctions until it abandons its nuclear program.
Mr. Graham also is the rare candidate with active-duty military experience, completing a brief tour of duty in Afghanistan over Memorial Day weekend. He has the backing of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has said Mr. Graham has the necessary knowledge and experience to be commander in chief.
“I have more experience with our national security than any other candidate in this race,” Mr. Graham said. In a reference to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, he said, “That includes you, Hillary.”
Mr. Graham’s bid is commanding an outsize amount of attention in his home state, which holds the “first in the South” presidential primary in February and is likely to fall fourth on the nominating calendar, just after contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Mr. Graham was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002, and has long-standing relationships with the state’s most influential donors and campaign operatives.
Mr. Graham has a testy relationship with conservative and tea party activists, though, especially in the vote-rich Upstate area. He had six primary opponents in his 2014 re-election bid and has been booed in public appearances for his long-running support for an immigration overhaul, including a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.
Mr. Graham won with 56% of the vote, which his campaign says is an indication that his detractors are a vocal minority. Mr. Graham touted his ability to compromise and work across the aisle as a strength in a divisive political environment.
“To Americans who trust neither party, I will seek the political common ground our nation so desperately needs to find,” he said. “Don’t take my word for it. Examine my record. I’ve got the scars to prove it.”
Mr. Graham is the ninth GOP candidate to formally enter the field. He tends to draw 2% or less in national polls.
But Jason Zacher, organizer of an ongoing series of presidential forums for the Upstate Chamber Coalition, says the race is wide open.
“There’s something like 18 people in the Republican clown car right now,” Mr. Zacher said, “but people like Lindsey, and he’s got a foreign-policy message in what could become a foreign-policy election. He’s got as good a shot as anyone.”
Mr. Graham has campaigned for or donated money to many of the state’s elected officials, increasing the likelihood that they will endorse his long-shot bid or sit out the presidential primary. Many of his backers are longtime allies of the Bush family, which poses a particular challenge for Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor whose father and brother were presidents.
The announcement was hosted by longtime supporter David Wilkins, ambassador to Canada under former President George W. Bush and a top Bush fundraiser. Mr. Graham was introduced by his younger sister Darline Graham Nordone, who described how he adopted her after their parents died in quick succession when Mr. Graham was an undergraduate and she was a school-aged child.
“Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised that he would always be there for me,” Ms. Nordone said. “I can assure you, he’s done that.”
Mr. Graham, 59 years old, is attending a campaign event with a who’s who of the state Republican Party in Columbia on Monday evening. He then heads to New Hampshire on Tuesday and Wednesday and to Iowa for the weekend.
Write to Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com
Sen. Lindsey Graham entered the 2016 presidential race on Monday, pledging to make national security the focus of his campaign and to force other Republican candidates to talk about defense.
Mr. Graham is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, a longtime military attorney and a defense hawk who recently returned from duty in Afghanistan and a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. His campaign theme is security through strength, which he says includes a more forceful response to threats by Islamic State and other radicals he says are “running wild.”
“They are large, they are rich, they are entrenched,” Mr. Graham said. “As president, I will make them small, poor and on the run.”
The three-term South Carolina senator announced his candidacy in front of what was once the pool hall run by his parents in the tiny town of Central. He was flanked by family, friends and busloads of schoolchildren in the conservative Upstate district he has represented for more than three decades.
In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Graham joins eight other candidates who have roundly criticized the Obama administration’s national security policy, but his critiques have been especially long-running, detailed and consistent. Mr. Graham has pushed for increased military spending and says the U.S. should break off talks with Iran and increase sanctions until it abandons its nuclear program.
Mr. Graham also is the rare candidate with active-duty military experience, completing a brief tour of duty in Afghanistan over Memorial Day weekend. He has the backing of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has said Mr. Graham has the necessary knowledge and experience to be commander in chief.
“I have more experience with our national security than any other candidate in this race,” Mr. Graham said. In a reference to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, he said, “That includes you, Hillary.”
Mr. Graham’s bid is commanding an outsize amount of attention in his home state, which holds the “first in the South” presidential primary in February and is likely to fall fourth on the nominating calendar, just after contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Mr. Graham was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002, and has long-standing relationships with the state’s most influential donors and campaign operatives.
Mr. Graham has a testy relationship with conservative and tea party activists, though, especially in the vote-rich Upstate area. He had six primary opponents in his 2014 re-election bid and has been booed in public appearances for his long-running support for an immigration overhaul, including a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.
Mr. Graham won with 56% of the vote, which his campaign says is an indication that his detractors are a vocal minority. Mr. Graham touted his ability to compromise and work across the aisle as a strength in a divisive political environment.
“To Americans who trust neither party, I will seek the political common ground our nation so desperately needs to find,” he said. “Don’t take my word for it. Examine my record. I’ve got the scars to prove it.”
Mr. Graham is the ninth GOP candidate to formally enter the field. He tends to draw 2% or less in national polls.
But Jason Zacher, organizer of an ongoing series of presidential forums for the Upstate Chamber Coalition, says the race is wide open.
“There’s something like 18 people in the Republican clown car right now,” Mr. Zacher said, “but people like Lindsey, and he’s got a foreign-policy message in what could become a foreign-policy election. He’s got as good a shot as anyone.”
Mr. Graham has campaigned for or donated money to many of the state’s elected officials, increasing the likelihood that they will endorse his long-shot bid or sit out the presidential primary. Many of his backers are longtime allies of the Bush family, which poses a particular challenge for Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor whose father and brother were presidents.
The announcement was hosted by longtime supporter David Wilkins, ambassador to Canada under former President George W. Bush and a top Bush fundraiser. Mr. Graham was introduced by his younger sister Darline Graham Nordone, who described how he adopted her after their parents died in quick succession when Mr. Graham was an undergraduate and she was a school-aged child.
“Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised that he would always be there for me,” Ms. Nordone said. “I can assure you, he’s done that.”
Mr. Graham, 59 years old, is attending a campaign event with a who’s who of the state Republican Party in Columbia on Monday evening. He then heads to New Hampshire on Tuesday and Wednesday and to Iowa for the weekend.
Write to Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com
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