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Phones are ringing from the Pee Dee to the Isle of Palms these days – from the Midlands through the Piedmont to the Upstate. Lots of phones. And there’s one name being discussed above all the others.
It’s that of former South Carolina lieutenant governor André Bauer. Once the wunderkind of Palmetto politics, the 56-year-old Charleston native has been largely out of the public eye for eye for well over a decade. Until now.
Suddenly, Bauer’s name is on the tip of GOP activists’ tongues, and the story is always the same. It begins, “I had a call from André Bauer the other day…”
Meanwhile, a visit to AndreBauer.com produces the following “under construction” message…
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“For a guy who’s not running for office, he sure looks like someone who’s fixing to become a candidate,” one Palmetto political operative told us.
All of which poses the question: Is Bauer positioning himself for a political comeback?
With a crowded 2026 gubernatorial field slowly starting to take shape, speculation is swirling that Bauer has his sights set on an even bigger target: defeating four-term incumbent U.S. senator Lindsey Graham.
Challenging Graham won’t be a task for the faint of heart. The neoconservative stalwart has a seasoned statewide network in place, a team of battle-hardened campaign pros at his disposal, and is sitting on a war chest so large it would make tinpot dictators in banana republics green with envy.
He’s also got the most coveted endorsement going… the imprimatur of U.S. president Donald Trump (more on that in a moment).
But Bauer wouldn’t be an ordinary challenger, either.
“He earned his reputation by being the hardest working man in politics,“ a retired strategist who once worked with Bauer told us. “Back in the day, he was everywhere. I mean everywhere. Nobody is ever going to mistake him for a Mensa Society member, but he works his ass off.”
Bauer’s early track record showed it. A varsity cheerleader during his days at the University of South Carolina, on the campaign trial André Bauer had no greater cheerleader than André Bauer.
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Elected to the S.C. House at age 27, the S.C. Senate followed a few years later. In 2002, he was elected to the first of two terms as lieutenant governor. Along the way, he received political tutelage from legendary GOP consultant Rod Shealy, who passed away just as Bauer appeared to be approaching the apex of political power in South Carolina.
In 2010, Bauer finished fourth in a hotly contested GOP primary which set previously unknown state representative Nikki Haley on her path to national prominence. After that Bauer lost a runoff in the 2012 Republican race for the Palmetto State’s newly created seventh congressional district.
More than a dozen years removed from his last campaign – and two decades since his last victory – is Bauer really ready for a return to public life? Especially challenging a Leviathan like Graham?
Despite the incumbent’s many aforementioned advantages, he remains exceedingly vulnerable on his right flank – which could conceivably work to an underdog’s advantage.
But “vulnerable” is not the same thing as “exploitable.”
“This race will be the most nationalized Senate race in the country next year,” a South Carolina political strategist unaffiliated with any campaign told us. “There will be more eyes, more media exposure focused on it than any other if a legitimate challenger emerges. Graham may be able to wage a $100 million campaign. But the right candidate could launch a nationwide small-dollar anti-Lindsey fundraising push, and suddenly he’s in a really good position to be competitive.”
Graham is certainly well aware of his political Achilles’ Heel. He was lustily booed at a Trump rally in Pickens, S.C., in July 2023 – and again at Trump’s victory bash on the night of the state’s presidential primary in February 2024.
Graham can take the state’s political pulse with the best of them, and is understandably already operating in crisis management mode. Exhibit A: He nailed down Trump’s endorsement of his reelection bid in March – barely two months after Trump returned to the White House.
Tump’s seal of approval is not to be taken lightly. As long-serving governor Henry McMaster can attest, Trump’s imprimatur got him elected – and reelected.
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RELATED | S.C. GOVERNOR RIVALS FACE OFF ON FLOOR OF U.S. HOUSE
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Trump’s backing is not a silver bullet in and of itself, either. One study found that in the 2022 cycle alone, approximately 91% of Trump’s candidates won open primaries. Yet when it came to challengers that same year, only four out of ten won. Consider South Carolina’s state primary that year. Trump’s backing helped Russell Fry defeat incumbent Tom Rice in the seventh district, but further down the coast it wasn’t enough to enable challenger Katie Arrington to dispatch incumbent Nancy Mace.
Trump’s endorsement is also not being given in a vacuum…
Given the peculiar, almost quixotic nature of this political relationship, how legitimate is Trump’s endorsement of Graham? Is it just pro forma window dressing, a one-and-done situation in which Trump doesn’t lift a finger on Graham’s behalf from here on out? Or, can we expect to see Trump reprise his role of campaign miracle worker and travel here in person next year to resurrect another Palmetto Lazarus from the political grave?
“Trump’s involvement will all come down to leverage,” the GOP strategist shared with us. “How much does he need Lindsey Graham’s vote in the Senate for his agenda going forward? They couldn’t even codify DOGE cuts, so it’s starting to look a little messy there. Each Senate vote is an increasingly valuable commodity. So, it all comes down to where Trump and the Senate are this time next year. If they’re struggling to enact his agenda, and Trump thinks he can depend on a vote from Lindsey Graham to help with that, then I think Trump may come here to help out. But if Trump is focused on something else at the time, then it’s a different story.”
Also, don’t forget Bauer (like Graham) was on the stage with Trump in early 2023 when he announced his latest presidential bid – which is seen as a key litmus test for Trump’s Palmetto State support. In other words, Trump may have backed Graham – but he’s unlikely to go out of his way to hurt Bauer.
However things play out, this much appears increasingly likely — the final scene in “Andre Bauer, A Play In Three Acts” may yet remain to be written.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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6 comments
Word is he’s running for State Treasurer to boost his state retirement pension benefit. And, because the crooked hedge fund he’s strongly tethered to desires state investment in their “deals.”
Not that I have any affection for Lindsey Graham, but wasn’t the “First Coming” of Andre enough for everyone? As for the winner of the seat’s impact on the Senate: Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
What is it with SC and sexually ambiguous guys as US Senators?
His apartment at Senate plaza is still famous for the not subtle gay romps. He left because pretty much everyone knew he was going to be outed by the democrats as a self loathing liar. So he grew a beard and moved home instead of being honest with himself.
The world has changed! (Snap sounds in a z shape) and he is counting on no one caring but he will be balls deep in a 20 year old dude page in less than a week. The marriage wont last 12 months from when he is elected, if its not already quietly over.
All because he wants people to look at him and pay attention.
Lawd save us from the stray cat candidate!
I’d take Andre over Lindsey any day, even though Andre detests the real people of South Carolina (see the news of when he had his plane crash in Cherokee county and got airlifted to Greenville instead of going to a hospital in Cherokee or Spartanburg County). We need Mark Sanford to defeat Lindsey Graham.