The WallBuilders Show - After Lindsey Graham: South Carolina’s Sudden Senate Fight - with Chad Connelly

Welcome And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:07

This is the intersection of faith and culture. Thanks for joining us today on the Wall Builder Show. Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton and our friend Chad Conley from Faith Wins. We appreciate you listening. Be sure and visit the websites today, wallbuilders.com and wallbuilders.show. Dot show for the radio program.com for everything else. We want to jump

Remembering Lindsey Graham’s Impact

SPEAKER_01 0:25

in immediately so we can get as much time with Chad as we possibly can. Of course, Chad, the loss of Lindsey Graham in the last 48 hours and a lot of political scrambling, but we want to first take a few minutes to just talk about the impact he had, not only on South Carolina, your home state, but on the country.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

You know, no doubt about it. It's a huge hole for not just the state, but the nation and our friends in Israel, the Middle East. He was brought up in his his house, which was above a liquor store, very blue-collar, rural South Carolina, little tiny town, to becoming a congressman who helped lead impeachment hearings, to becoming a U.S. Senator and sitting with kings and sheikhs and prime ministers discussing the direction of geopolitics. It's an amazing thing. This is a huge hole for South Carolina and for the nation. And let's face it, for conservatives, this was going to be the guy who was going to be judiciary chairman in the next Senate in all likelihood. So big holes to fill, y'all. Just really big shoes to fill.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Yeah, and his impact on so many key issues. I mean, he's been right there at the forefront of so many different things over the last couple of decades. And of course, Chad, you saw the, you know, the the whole South Carolina side of that as well. So what he represented for your state. But like you said, the stuff that he was doing behind the scenes to help President Trump and so many of the things in the Middle East. And um, and you know, look, there's been times I criticized Lindsay just like there's been times I've criticized um, you know, President Trump. Or maybe even you, Chad. I don't know. I I I criticize Tim more than I do David, but you know, no, seriously, I mean, you know, we're we we're uh uh honest brokers here, and so we we stand by principles, and so sometimes we disagree on where those things could go. So all of that said, though, um just a phenomenal, phenomenal career and and impact. How does how does first South Carolina look at filling that gap? And then what does it mean for the Senate? We've got the Save Act, every vote counts right now. My understanding is he was in favor of the Save Act and and going forward with it uh without the without the filibuster. So what does that do? There's just so much happening so fast right now.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

There's so much to unpack in it. Um, and Lindsay, I don't know if y'all saw President Trump's uh statement, and he was emotional. I mean, he was good friends. Uh Lindsay's favorite line the last few years was after Trump put his cell phone out there when they were running against each other for president, uh, and then Lindsay did a really funny ad about it. Uh, they became friends, and Lindsay said, We found common ground. I like him, and he likes him. And so we we we found that we had common ground together, and so they became fast friends. And I would say Lindsay became one of his most stalwart supporters um in all things Trump. He was pushing uh an America first agenda, a President Trump agenda. It it leaves a big question mark in South Carolina. So the governor gets to appoint someone who

The Shockingly Fast Election Timeline

SPEAKER_00 3:28

becomes basically a placeholder until the next senator is elected. But let me let me read you this ramp. This is fast. So filing opens for the Senate seat. Oh, it's the the statute, the state statutes of 7110. Um, it opens the second Tuesday after the trigger, either a resignation or a death of a sitting, duly elected member. Filing opens July 21st. That's a week from Tuesday, y'all. Closes the following week.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Chad, hang on just a second. I I don't know of any other state that would have people filing within two weeks of the death of an incumbent. That's got to be the fastest in the nation. I I I I mean, when you say that, it just I it it's amazes me that that you don't even hardly have time to bury and and and look to see what he did before you've already got people filing, which means the campaign is already going. That's crazy. So two weeks after the death, wow. It's crazy. Wow, wow, wow.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

And the the primary is August 11th, and the runoff is August the 25th. So what had happened was like when Tim Scott replaced Jim DeMant, I was chairman then. I got like an hour notice before Jim DeMant's press conference. He called and said, Hey, I'm resigning. There's no scandal. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean you're resigning? And so the governor appointed Tim Scott. I'm sure he worked with Jim DeMant in that case because Jim was resigning. Um, and then Tim went ahead and ran for the seat when that election. This election's happening fast. So either a placeholder doesn't want to run, but it could happen that somebody becomes a placeholder who does want to run, and then there's a there's a there's a primary and people could run. Listen, y'all, I was on the phone by 6:30 a.m. this morning talking to my buddy Drew McKissick, the state party chair, talking about the statute and how does the party handle this, but also the ripple effect that what you just mentioned, David, that this is a big deal. And then Rick went into the questions of the SAVE Act. We've got the issue of the razor-thin margins in the Senate and the House. Um, because some of the people who would run for this and would fit well and would be good for the issues that we care about, I'm not sure we can afford to lose them in the U.S. House. Um, I think it would bring up another special election that would trigger another set of ripple effects. But do you I don't know if you heard Trump? Trump said that one of the last conversations they had last night, maybe within the hour of when Lindsay passed, was about the Save Act. So it was on Lindsay's mind. That guy was on top of everything.

Who Might Run For The Seat

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Hey Chad, so just uh to help bring in some people to this, who are some of the the congressmen or women from South Carolina that you think, even though, as you mentioned, we wouldn't want to lose them in the House, but maybe that's someone that could be a good senator. Who are some of the people you see already in Congress, or maybe even uh state senate? Who are some of the names that you expect to see those those names be thrown in the hat for this seat?

SPEAKER_00 6:28

So we just had a very competitive governor's race, right? And Nancy Mace, who's a sitting congressman in CD1, Congressional District 1, I'm certain she'll run. Um, Ralph Norman, who finished third and endorsed the eventual winner, Alan Wilson, over the lieutenant governor, and he was close. Ralph was really close. He's his name is being mentioned. Um Ralph and Nancy would leave the house. Now there's somebody running for Ralph's seat that's unopposed, my friend Wes Clymer. He'll be the congressman from the 5th district. There's a competitive race. There's a lady named Jenny Honeycutt, who's a friend of mine in Charleston, who's the Republican nominee running for Nancy Mace's seat. So Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman are two sitting congressmen, but there's already a race there. The third one I'm hearing a lot about is Russell Fry. Russell was the county party chairman in Orie County when I was state party chairman, great guy, total conservative. And here's the other thing: Trump loves him. He is a Trump guy. When Trump was looking for somebody to run against Tom Rice, Russell was Russell Fry has been kind of the guy who stepped into the fray and um has been a conservative stronghold for Orie County and for the 7th Congressional District. Then you got to think that the lieutenant governor, Pamela Evitt, who just lost the governor's race, uh, she had Trump's endorsement, she had uh the governor's endorsement, had a ton of money and lost the governor's race. I would expect her name. There's four names right there. Now, if you go to the placeholder, I think you're probably looking. I know Trey Gowdy's name's being pushed around. Trey doesn't want to do it, uh, but he loved Lindsay. They were a golf player, they part played golf all the time. So that's five names I can think of, and there's some others that are being bandied about. I'm not sure how serious.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Now, Chad, on air, I I will not ask you uh who your favorite is. Thank you. But uh knowing that Lindsay was someone who uh believed in the right to life of the unborn. You mentioned he was a friend of Israel. Things that sometimes to the conservative movement, not all conservatives are champions for traditional values or always biblical values. Uh and so like not asking you to go on the spot necessarily for this, but how many of the people uh that are gonna throw their hat in the ring, how many of them are good on the issues? Now, again, Rick, you already mentioned uh we might have had disagreements with Lindsay at times in specific areas. People might have said, look, this guy likes ore a little more than we do. Right, not not to digress, but when it comes to some of the traditional value shad, how many of these people

What Christians Should Watch For

SPEAKER_02 9:18

are are the same kind of traditional conservative that Lindsay was? Or is do you see a reason to be concerned with some of these names that maybe they're not great on the life issue? Maybe they're not great on Israel. Should Christians pay attention uh to some of these names that might be running for this Senate seat going forward?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Christians should be very concerned. Um, and I'll throw another name in there to continue the mix and confusion, but there are people talking about Nikki Haley may step in and run. So that's five right off the top of my head without really spending a lot of time. Listen, uh, the last pastor meeting we did with with Lindsay was right before his um the prime the runoff, the no the primary in June. And we had 45 pastors, had a great array. I think we had 15 denominations in the room that day. And there was one pastor in particular, and I'll answer your question getting at it this way, Tim. One pastor that guys don't like the guy, but Lindsay comes in, he talks about I'm for unborn babies and for taking out terrorists. And the guy's like, Well, I love this guy, and and so he was right on that stuff. And of course, conservative judges, um, the Middle East, Israel being a staunch supporter of Israel and life, Lindsay was right on those things. Tim, of those five, I'll just say that two would be fantastic for us and things we care about. Um the there are others in that mix that maybe not be as staunch, especially Israel and especially life, but those give me pause for the judges issue too. Yes. Definite concern.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

All right, I'm I'm so we're just reporting here based on the record of those five, which are the two that you think best conform to basically a conservative biblical worldview.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Well, there's another piece here too, David. Uh they gotta be liked by Trump, right? And so I'm gonna lead with that because unless you check the Trump box, and that's gonna be Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, I I think would be the two that Trump would think would be the conservative champions, the America first types. Um I think that there's a lot of uh angst about the issues for some of the others, but I believe both Russell and Ralph would be staunch. And I think Trey would too. I just don't think Trey Gowdy has any interest in it whatsoever. I I just don't see it.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

And Chad, uh, just to clarify, we're not asking you to have a crystal ball. Uh we're not asking to predict the future because uh obviously this is so fresh. Uh you know, this just happened.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

24 hours, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

24 hours ago, whatever that was. It's this is really, really raw. So you're someone who has been on the ground in South Carolina for a lot of years. You mentioned um helping run the chairman of the state GOP. Um, you you know all of these players. Um, you are are either friends with, or it's a very small, not even a one-degree separation, but like you know them. I maybe just you're your hangout buddies. So you are someone that can give us a lot of insight. But I know we have to take a break in a second. Rick, can do we have time for another question? We need to go to break first.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Well, you you since you brought it up. Let's go ahead and do it, let's go ahead and do the break. And as we're going to break, one of the other things I'd I'd love for us to talk about before the show's over, we just spent, well, we didn't spend, others spent, I think John Cornyn spent $150 million apparently in the Senate race in Texas. And I think Paxson spent like $20 million or something. But anyway, close to $200 million spent for the Texas seat. So this South Carolina seat, no telling what'll get spent in just a few weeks, but I don't think it'll be that much. So each Senate vote has the same amount of power and the same vote, so it's uh South Carolina might have a much easier path to this one, uh, just in terms of dollars. Anyway, we'll take a quick break. We'll come back to all those questions. Chad Connolly,

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SPEAKER_01 13:10

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SPEAKER_02 13:17

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SPEAKER_01 14:20

Welcome back to the Wall

Appointment Versus Election Reality Check

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Builder Show. Thank you for staying with us. Chad Conley with us. We're talking about, of course, uh the passing of Lindsey Graham and his service to the country and uh to the state of uh South Carolina, where Chad is from and has uh been in the trenches of the politics there for many decades. And uh just uh kind of trying to get our hands around how fast this thing's gonna happen, as David said before the break. Uh, don't know of another state that does it this fast. I I'm actually intrigued by that because it it probably makes sense. You don't want your Senate seat empty uh for your state's representation any longer than it has to be. But I guess a lot of our states it's uh it can be an immediate appointment by the governor to to take care of that that short gap. But it is it is really, really fast. I'm gonna jump in, chat.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

You gave us dates on on trigger dates for how this happened. Give me week dates. How how from the time Lindsay died, how many weeks is it till you got in how many weeks till the election?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

Now, so this is this is quick. Uh so what'll happen is Henry McMaster, the governor, will probably appoint a replacement in the next few days. And but the statute says the second Tuesday after the trigger, so Lindsay's death was Saturday, so a week from Tuesday, which is July 21st, filing open. That's the second Tuesday after the trigger event. And then the filing closes the next Tuesday, the 28th, filing's closed. The primary is August 11th. That's a Tuesday, and the runoff is August 25th. So we're what? What's that? 40 days, y'all? 40, about 40 days, the whole thing. So, but Henry Mack will have a replacement. He'll have an appointed replacement who'll be sworn as a U.S. senator, I would think, in a matter of a week, let's say.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

So the primary is like in five or six weeks, but then it'll go to the general. They won't have an actual person until after the general okay, got it. So we we're going all the way to November before we know for sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Whoever wins this primary is gonna be on our ballot instead of Lindsey Graham's name. So the guy who just lost to Lindsey, Mark Lynch, I'm sure he runs too. There's six names off the top of my head. Now, he's a constitutional conservative Christian, no question. I met with Mark as well. Um, but Lindsay won that thing going

Faith Wins Model For Pastor Outreach

SPEAKER_00 16:30

away. But let's think about it. It's gonna take some money, it's gonna take some name ID to win this. This this could be a really intense, very, very short primary that hits and hits hard for the state.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Knowing South Carolina uh is a very red state, very strong red. Uh, with everything you do at Faith Winds, um, I I think Rick, uh, dad, all of us have had a chance uh to travel with you to do some speaking uh with Faith Winds. It and South Carolina uh is is not, I don't think, one of the major target states you've had for Faith Wins for this fall. Um does this does this change anything? And I know like this is again, you've had 24, 48 hours only to process what's going on. Um, does does this add more to your schedule with the fall for Faith Wins? Um not that you had any more time to give, but but what what impact does this have with all that you are already doing for Faith Wins?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

So I think the answer is that it's gonna get a lot more tension. Let's face it. I think the Dems will see an opportunity here against a weaker opponent, but the person they're running is is you know, pro-trans, pro-LGBT plus plus plus plus, uh, pro totally pro-choice. Uh got a lot of problems. I I've I've seen the early Oppo file on Annie Andrews, and she's not a friend of anything the Bartons or the Greens or the Connollys stand for, believe in. So, but I do think they'll see an opportunity to throw a lot of money in here. The great thing is because we had an open governor's race, uh, David, your dad and I talked about this, uh, a Senate race, we had some congressional races, and we had a gambling consortium put a ton of money into the governor's race to try to win a seat. Um, we spent a lot of time here from January to June. We proved our model, Tim. We we did 75 pastor meetings with over a thousand pastors from 15 different denominations in those six months. So I now have pastors. You named the denomination, and we did some, we did some tracking, we did some data tracking. We can prove our model. And when we talked about issues that related to Christian values, biblical values, we proved we can move the needle. In fact, our research showed that 10% of Christian voters, the most reliable voting block, 10% didn't rely on digital ads or television ads or mailers. You know what they relied on? Their pastor. Now you think about this. I'm taking this nationwide. I hadn't even told your dad I haven't even put my research out because I'm I'm putting into a forum to share with you guys, and we need to talk about this. I think it is the difference maker in all these racing nationwide. And yes, I'm gonna have you guys in my state as well already plan that because we're right beside Georgia. I think David's in Savannah. We're gonna hop over into South Carolina. So, yes, we're gonna do that. But when you think about the margins most of these races on, and we're targeting, if and Lord will, and I can raise enough money, I'm gonna have a dedicated pastor in 43 congressional seats or 43 congressional districts and seven U.S. Senate places that we're gonna focus on to run up the score. If 10% of Christians rely on their pastor's advice and

The 10% Pastor Influence Data

SPEAKER_00 19:52

the margins in that what, three or four or five or six percent, that's the difference. We we can make the difference in every one of those races, Tim.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

And so for everybody listening, um, the reason we love guys like Chad Connolly, the reason we partner so much with them is because, as Chad mentioned, there's a proven track record. And as you just heard, he said, if we have the money, here's the plan. Uh, and so I would encourage everybody right now, faith wins, look up the organization, faith wins, go donate. Because just like we talk about uh what is happening with Patriot Academy and wall builders, that the doors that God has opened, the things God is allowing us to do, the difference is being made. We talk about the undercurrent of revival happening all over the nation, but one of the reasons that we partner with the people we partner with is because they are people that follow God that are working to make a difference in this nation. And and honestly, um with Faith Wins, the the last several months before the election, um, we don't schedule hardly anything for my dad. David Martin does not hardly speak for wall builders the last three months before an election. He speaks with faith wins, and he and Chad travel all over now. Rick and I will do some things with Chad anytime we have availability, um, or if my dad can't make it. But uh, for everybody listening, you need to go support faith wins where you can, because we can show literal data over the last several election cycles where it was because of faith wins being on the ground in some of those areas. That's why the Christian conservative won in many of those areas and races, because what Chad is talking about is engaging pastors in that process. That is what caused so many of the Christians to turn out in those areas because when you engage the pastors, when pastors get on board, when pastors go, Man, I want to do something, I want to make a difference, you will see the needle shift on these races. And so, what Chad is talking about for everybody listening right now, whether you're listening to the Podcast or some radio station, because we're all over the place, we would encourage you to go to Faith Wins and support this effort. This is seed sown into good soil when you are donating to Faith Wins. So highly, highly encourage that. And Dad, I saw you waving a second ago. So let me yield the plug for why you everybody needs to donate to Faith Wins. And by the way, um even the Bartons and the Greens, we are people that we we don't just encourage you to donate places. We are people that vote with our dollars. So we financially support Faith Wins as well. We ask you to do the same thing. Dad, knowing we're low on time, um, let me yield to you for another thought with Chad.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Thanks, Tim. Appreciate you, brother.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

I'm gonna promote Faith Wins in the same kind of way. And that Chad, let's let's he he post where these meetings are gonna be. And so check that list. And if you live in that area or know pastors in that area, get them to the meetings. Because as Chad points out, this is this is huge stuff. You know, way back with Barney years ago, we found that only 2.8% of pastors actually address the issues that are going on in the news. And so most pastors

How To Support And Get Pastors Involved

SPEAKER_03 23:06

do not want to touch this at all. And when a pastor does, as Chad pointed out, 10% of parishioners say, hey, we listened to our pastor on this. When you get that, you get a pastor talking, you you raise the turnout. Chad's got so many examples of from six years ago with turning Virginia on its head in the right direction. All these things where pastors made the difference. So as Tim pointed out, this is a great place to sow seeds, but also check the list of where all these events are gonna be. Chad won, we got a hundred different pastors' meetings between now and the end of the year or whatever. And and check that list. That's a lot. See where we're gonna be and get pastors if you know, if they're on your list, if you got friends there, if you got kids or in-laws or anything else, get them to come to those meetings.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Chad, is that uh is the best place to do that at faithwinds.org? Yeah, that's right. And second question, are you still open to more events? Like if people want to bring you guys in, maybe 2026 is full, but but certainly for 2028, can they contact you through the website to talk about partnering with you in their city?

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Yes, sir, absolutely. They can do that. We're we're lining up, you know. I've got a logistic log logistician extraordinaire, Bob Crawford, who's making all the logistics work. And Tim, yeah, you're gonna be with me some too, because your dad's not available. Bob told me yesterday. And so, but you know, I'm excited about it. Yeah, go to faithwinds.org. We're we're lining up stuff. We think we're gonna end up between 120, 125 pastor meetings between, you know, whenever we get started in the election, and we're we're just squeezing in everything. The hard parts getting to places, but we we think we'll be in most of those 43 congressional districts um that are in the competitive range. There's actually five in Texas, y'all, that we're gonna be working in. I'll talk to you guys more about that. But the Senate race states, we're gonna be there. But I'm fired up that we've actually put a quantification, this this 10% number that we just spent quite a bit of effort just pegging the numbers, following, tracking, doing the data mining, geofencing the churches that we know. Most people, the consultants, when they geofence churches, when they target churches, they target all churches. We only target known conservative biblical churches, and we think that's a difference maker. But now we got numbers to prove it. I hadn't even told that publicly. I'm still putting the report together with our data team, but I will be talking about that soon. So thank y'all for the plug. We need it, and I'm looking forward to being with all you guys this fall and rest of the summer.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Well, one thing too, guys, it's encouraging in the midst of all that Faith Wins is doing. Uh Chad, as you mentioned, there's five seats in Texas that y'all are going to engage in. Um, obviously, then you have a Senate race with a Ken Paxson versus James Talarico. So many things going on. But, guys, one of the encouraging things to me is when you are seeing the mega churches like a Josh Howerton saying, we want to get involved because we want to help swing the needle, this is again one encouraging sign to me of part of the revival and hopefully the great awakening that we are in. When you have pastors waking up and say, we want to get involved culturally and recognizing that politics impacts so much of Christian

Final Thoughts And Farewell

SPEAKER_02 26:18

life in these states that politics matters to a Christian. That is super encouraging. And again, FaithWins being on the ground all over. We are so excited, Chad, to partner with you for all of these big things coming up in the fall. Faithwins.org. Love you guys.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

I appreciate y'all.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Morning out.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Chad, thank you, man. Appreciate you coming on. Faithwins.org. Faithwins.org. You've been listening to the Wallpholder Show.