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by WILL FOLKS
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The architect of Project 2025 – the conservative policy manual being implemented by U.S. president Donald Trump during his second term in office – officially launched his challenge to incumbent U.S. senator Lindsey Graham in Charleston, S.C. on Wednesday (July 30, 2025).
Paul Dans, 56, kicked off his candidacy at Charleston’s Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon – in the very room where South Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution in May of 1788.
“We’ve got a country to save,” Dans told several dozen supporters who joined him for his announcement.
The corporate litigator turned deep state disruptor leaned into his experience with Project 2025, referring to it as “the operating manual” for draining the Washington, D.C. swamp.
“We were able to prepare the path for President Trump to hit the ground running,” Dans said of the blueprint he helped create. “We published the source code to dismantle this administrative state. If you liked president Trump’s first six months in office, you’re going to love what I’m about.”
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“I’ve actually drained the swamp,” Dans continued, contrasting his experience as a “swamp drainer” during Trump’s first term with Graham’s status as a “swamp critter.”
“Graham promises foreign dictators your children’s inheritance,” he said. “He’s a 70-year-old childless warmonger with no stake in this country’s future.”
According to Dans, Graham cares about three things: “endless war, endless government and endless spending.”
“He is not America First,” Dans said. “He is Lindsey First. His record is three endless wars – Iraq, Afghanistan and now Ukraine.”
In a follow-up interview with FITSNews following his announcement speech, Dans also blasted fellow Graham challenger André Bauer.
“I’ll clue André in on this one – if you’re gonna call yourself MAGA that means you support president Trump – not Kamala Harris for president,” he said. “It’s absurd that you ever did that and you can’t erase the internet. The internet never forgets, sir. I’m not even sure why you’re in this race. We don’t need someone who’s palling around with globalists all over the world – that’s fraud. You’re just a snake oil salesman.”
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In fairness to Bauer, he endorsed Trump in both the primary and general elections last year, although he did appear in a photograph with Kamala Harris during the 2020 election – and seemed to signal his support for her Democratic primary bid.
“Forget André for now,” Dans continued. “His career kinda crash landed about twenty years ago and he hasn’t won an election in several outings.”
As for the other Graham challengers, Dans invited them to join his campaign…
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U.S. Senate candidate @PaulDansUSA told our Will Folks why he believes he's the man to retire Lindsey Graham shortly after formally announcing his candidacy in Charleston this morning. Stay tuned for a full length in-studio interview with Dans dropping next week. pic.twitter.com/uysZWHo1va
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) July 30, 2025
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Previously, our Dylan Nolan interviewed Dans about his personal history, his work in Washington, D.C. and the roots of Project 2025.
“My parents were the first to speak English in their household, the first to go to college,” he told Nolan. “They were the ones who paid the taxes, fought the wars and went back to their factories only to see the jobs shipped overseas.”
Dans said he never fit the mold of a Bush Republican, and grew increasingly frustrated with GOP standard-bearers like John McCain and Mitt Romney.
“We were never country club Republicans,” he said. “We were the guys who worked at the country club.”
Unfortunately, after Trump’s first victory, country club Republicans were the ones who got seats at the table.
“It was like the whole establishment just poured in, and everybody who’d been a Bush staffer magically got jobs, and the real America First people were basically kicked to the curb,” Dans recalled to Nolan.
Dans was one of those people, he said. Ultimately, he wound up at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under secretary Ben Carson. Later, he became White House liaison to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Those experiences helped lay the groundwork for Project 2025.
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“The birthplace of Project 2025 is somewhere between my kitchen counter in Fort Mill and the kitchen table here in Charleston, where we moved in 2022- so they can lay claim to the birthplace of Project 2025,” Dans told Nolan. “I built it based on my own experience. The thesis was we needed to recruit an army of trained, committed conservatives from outside the beltway, tell them what we think in terms of the policy book, train them on how the agencies work, put them in the database and have them tell us about themselves so we can vet them. And finally, give them a 180-day plan of action. So that was Project 2025, it was a spectacular success.”
While Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during his campaign – and Dans ultimately left the Heritage Foundation last year amid a scandal – the success of the blueprint speaks for itself.
“The victory is really in seeing all this stuff put into motion,” Dans told Nolan. “It was never about us. It was always about change.”
During his announcement speech, Dans repeatedly likened himself to a young King David heading into to battle against Goliath. At one point during his remarks he referred to himself as “a humble shepherd of conservatives.”
“We’re going to get a sling shot,” he said.
Dans also said his campaign had adopted the famous Revolutionary War guerrilla warrior Francis Marion – the “Swamp Fox” – as its official “spirit animal.”
As for Trump’s endorsement of Graham, Dans said “I believe president Trump’s endorsed me as well because every day he rolls out another one of our proposals that we put in Project 2025.”
“I’m his true warrior,” Dans said.
South Carolina voters will head to the polls on June 9, 2026 to cast their votes in the Republican primary election. Keep it tuned to FITSNews Crossroads 2026 coverage for the latest updates on this race – and the battle for the Palmetto State governor’s mansion.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
Sorry, no facist carpetbaggers allowed.
Who isn’t a carpetbagger in Charleston and SC? Most are transplants. To be from here doesn’t mean you should rule here. New concervative ideas and values are more than welcomed.
A lot of people move to South Carolina, establish themselves, become part of the community, and ultimately decide to run for office. No problem with that. This guy moved to South Carolina, it would appear, solely for the purpose to run against Graham, who he rightfully sees as a vulnerable. That is the only reason he is here. He doesn’t give two craps about this state or its people. He is simply trying to use us to get a position of power and influence.
Damn!! How lucky is South Carolina to be blessed by a savior like this guy to come along and bless us with all his knowledge and religious fervor….
Bingo, all above.
Dear Paul,
With all disrespect, you already lied to the Palmetto state. Your parents were not the workers at the country club type. Your father went to John’s Hopkins School of Medicine and your mother worked for NIH. We South Carolinians don’t need outsiders moving to our state to tell us what should be done. Frankly, we kick ass at everything except lower education. Bye! Seriously, you seem like a rather bright guy from MIT and all, but this is a dumb idea. So, your argument is Trump supports you over Graham bc you drafted the blueprint? Nah! Graham has served this state very well. He is not the problem. The problem is a small group of people calling themselves republicans who are really jihadists like the SC Freedumb Caucus who defended one of their leaders involved with Child Sexual Abuse Material. Hitchcock your cart to that horse and it will be a long road back up north to NYC where you lived.