Graham Allen is challenging Tom Rice for Congress — but doesn’t live here. Could he win?

Mere weeks after he announced on Fox News that he was challenging U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-Myrtle Beach) for his seat in Congress, Graham Allen pulled in an impressive fundraising haul: $501,000 in total contributions in six weeks.

More than $409,000 came from individual contributions, with an average donation of around $38, Allen said. A $92,000 loan was added to that total. That total alone appears to give Allen an edge in the race — Rice has $1.5 million on hand, has raised $731,000 so far this year, but has raised money more slowly than Allen.

But despite Allen’s ability to fundraise, a number of Republican Party leaders across South Carolina’s 7th congressional district question if he’ll be a viable candidate to beat Rice, in part because Allen doesn’t live in the district. Allen and his wife, Ellisa Vinzant Allen, own a home in The Governors neighborhood in Anderson, SC, according to county property records.

“By law, Graham Allen can run but I feel like candidates that have lived here know the people (and) know the district,” said Verd Odom, the chairman of the Marlboro County Republican Party. “I would say that the vast majority of people who live in the 7th district would want a candidate who’s lived here their whole life.”

South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District stretches from Georgetown County to the state line and includes Horry, Marion, Chesterfield, Dillon, Marlboro and Darlington counties, as well as part of Florence County. The primary election for the seat will be held next year.

Already, Allen’s residence in Anderson has become a key line of attack for the other candidates who have entered the race. Ken Richardson, the chairman of the Horry County school board, referred to Allen as a “carpetbagger” in a post on his campaign website. And Jeanette Spurlock, an Horry County business owner, questioned why Allen chose to run in a district across the state from his home.

“What brought him to South Carolina and how did he pick district 7…did someone ask him to?” Spurlock said. “You can’t help but wonder what made him choose district 7.”

Allen, responding to concerns about him living outside the district, told The Sun News he’s looking “to correct that narrative” and plans to rent an apartment in Myrtle Beach before purchasing a home somewhere in the district. He said he entered the race as a non-native to the district because he believes that “it’s 2022 or bust for us” and that elected leaders like Rice who oppose Trump put the country at risk of losing its democracy. He said he wants to see tighter security at the United States’ Southern border, regulation of large technology and social media companies and fewer restrictions on gun owners.

“I believe like many Americans that we have elected officials that believe that they know what’s best for their constituents instead of the other way around,” Allen said. “I have the ability and the drive and I have the intention of simply being a voice to the people.”

Allen joins a crowded field of candidates looking to unseat Rice, particularly after his January vote to impeach former President Donald Trump. Already, in addition to Richardson and Spurlock, SC Rep. Russell Fry, Horry County salesman Justin Davison and Christian speaker and insurance saleswoman Barbara Arthur have all said they’re challenging Rice next year. Rice has said he welcomes the challenges, noting that he’s faced challengers every two years.

Voters in the 7th district, Rice said, “should certainly weigh whether or not someone lives in the district.” But, he added, opponents are “nothing new and I look forward to the debate.”

Allen’s background, and concerns about his candidacy

Allen was born in Caledonia, Mississippi, in January 1987 and came from a “broken home,” he said. He was largely raised by his grandparents, he said, and learned his conservative values through them. When he was 18, Allen joined the U.S. Army and served for 12 years, from 2005 to 2017. He began posting “daily rant” videos on social media around that time and, not long after, became a contributor to the Turning Point USA network, a right-wing nonprofit that aims to push conservative politics on high school and college campuses. In recent months and years, Allen has gained a national profile for his willingness to weigh in on all manner of political and cultural controversies, from whether or not the National Anthem is played at basketball games, to certain brands and celebrities getting “canceled” to gender and sexuality norms.

From 2014 through 2017, Allen said, he served a stint in the South Carolina National Guard, and said he had visited the state other times on recruiting tours. Allen argued that his moving to Anderson, SC in 2020 ought to give him a leg up in his race against Rice because he and his family actively chose to live in South Carolina.

But around the 7th congressional district, a number of Republican party leaders and others active in the GOP questioned Allen’s candidacy and doubted that voters here would support his run against Rice because he doesn’t live in the district.

“How can you live outside the district and represent the people? If you’re not going to live here I don’t see how you can win,” said Shannon Grady, a member of the Horry County GOP’s executive committee and the head of the Horry County Republican Women’s Club. “I don’t plan on voting for him unless he moves to the district and explains some of his statements.”

Grady pointed to several recent statements Graham made in videos in which he seemingly disavowed Christianity and referred to his mother as a “vagina.”

“There’s even people in South Carolina trying to say that I was born and raised in Mississippi so I’m not a real South Carolinian. I’m sorry I couldn’t control what vagina I came out of and where that vagina was located when I came out of it,” Allen said in the later video clip.

Allen told The Sun News that his comments about Christianity were taken out of context and that he’s “a Christian absolutely 100%.” He added that in his comments about his mother, he was “simply saying I can’t help where I came from.”

Jerry Rovner, the chairman of the GOP for the 7th Congressional District, said he doubted that Graham’s abrasive tone would resonate with a majority of voters here.

“That’s not going to play well with the Bible Belt up here and the rest of the candidates are going to jump on those two things,” Rovner said. “It’s the height of arrogance to live outside the district and thumb his nose at the people who live here.”

Allen isn’t the first challenger Rice has faced who didn’t live in the district when they announced their run against him. Last year, Charleston Democrat Melissa Ward Watson challenged Rice in the general election, ultimately losing. But Watson said she only lived outside of the district because she grew up in a poor community and needed to leave to find work. She said she grew up in the district, was still connected to the area, and had many friends and family who still lived in the district, who she would frequently visit. She said she planned to move back to the district had she won.

“I think he’s probably a Republican opportunist whereas I was a candidate who was from the area,” Watson said. “Voters knew who I was, not that I had no roots there. People know about having to leave home to have an opportunity for their family.”

Banks Burch, the head of the Chesterfield County GOP, said Allen could move to the district and prove himself to the voters here as a better choice than Rice, but said that people generally like locals more than those from outside the district.

“My personal opinion, the more local you get, the more local I’ll want you to be,” Burch said. “I wouldn’t want someone on my county council who moved here a year ago.”

Still, Burch said, Allen not being from the district “doesn’t mean I won’t vote for him.”

“It’s a long time until Election Day, a long time for (candidates) to do what they have to do,” he said. “The more they show up and answer what our voters have questions on the more likely they are to win our county.”

Is Allen’s fundraising sustainable?

According to Federal Election Commission data, which provides a breakdown of Allen’s fundraising haul, a majority of the money he’s raised so far has come from outside of the 7th Congressional District.

According to the itemized receipts, Allen raised the most — $95,400 — from contributors in Georgia, and the second-most — $62,140 — from contributors in Virginia. Allen raised $20,110 from contributors in South Carolina, about $1,000 of which came from Horry County. The FEC data doesn’t include every contribution Allen has received, in part because some donors gave through the Republican fundraising website WinRed. Allen said he’s received around 10,000 individual donations from around the country, and that the average donation was about $38.

Rovner said Allen likely raised so much out-of-state and out-of-district money because he announced his campaign during a segment on Fox News’ morning show, Fox & Friends. He questioned if that kind of reach would pay off if voters here are already concerned about some of Allen’s rhetoric.

Richardson said he noticed that a bulk of Allen’s money came from outside of the district, and said that even though he’d raised less in the most recent quarter, a majority of his fundraising has come from within the district. And Spurlock noted that she’s focused more on meeting people and spreading her message and isn’t worried about asking people for money yet.

“I truly believe that people don’t want rich people running their district anymore, and the bigger your donation from someone is you run the risk that you might owe them something in return,” Spurlock said. “Ultimately what’s going to put me ahead…is I’m a real person and I’m normal.”

National issues vs. local issues

When Rice has hosted town hall events around the district this year, he’s focused his remarks on explaining to voters why he voted to impeach Trump, and highlighted legislative victories he’s had in Congress. On his list of achievements are opening an inland port in Dillon, pushing forward Interstate 73 and ensuring small businesses were protected in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Allen has taken a different approach to date, focusing more on national issues than local issues. In campaign videos and social media posts, he’s highlighted a need to hold large technology companies accountable, strengthen security at the U.S.’s Southern Border and protecting Second Amendment rights. He’s also said he would work on election security issues, saying that South Carolinians are “worried about their vote mattering.”

“That is the biggest threat to our democracy and our country right now,” he said.

But Allen’s focus on national issues has some questioning if he could represent a coastal and rural South Carolina district well.

“There are a handful of people who that may resonate with…there may be a few people but I stand by my assertion that folks in the 7th district aren’t buying what he’s selling,” Grady said.

Asked about several local issues, such as flooding, I-73 and bringing new jobs and industries to the area, Allen said he would listen to what constituents want, and vote accordingly in Congress.

“My opinion is that I will listen to what the people want or not want when it comes to I-73,” he said.

Richardson and other candidates have seen Allen’s national focus as another reason why he’s not a good fit for the district.

“He talks about things on the national level, he doesn’t know what’s going on in the 7th district,” Richardson said. “When someone says, ‘We haven’t had any rain in Cedarbrook and Allsbrook,’ I at least know where those places are.”

Allen argued that voters want a candidate who will carry on Trump’s legacy, and that he’s the one who can do that.

“I’m an America First candidate,” he said.

This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 2:40 PM.