The University of South Carolina's College Republicans chapter kicked off a new speaker series that will feature candidates for South Carolina's 2026 elections. The first guest was Paul Dans, the American lawyer that led Project 2025.
Dans is running against Lindsey Graham in the 2026 Senate race in South Carolina. He gave a speech and spoke with students at the event on Monday.
“The students give me hope every time I’m with them,” Dans said. “I really feel like your generation gets it in a way that even my generation didn’t care or became really nonplussed about things.”
Dans criticized Graham for supporting wars and lacking support for the President during his speech in the Russell House ballroom. He is also running on cutting down the government and improving the affordability of housing, he said.
First-year economics student Sam Munson asked Dans at the event how he would prevent large investment firms from raising housing costs. Munson is a Columbia native from the Eau Claire neighborhood, where he said he sees these firms buying up properties in an area where many people struggle to afford to live.
Dans said the Securities and Exchange Commission could be used to go after these companies.
Munson said he liked Dans’ answer, but he still supports Graham for Senate.
“For as much of a war hawk as he is, he’s not going to do anything radical,” Munson said. “As I see it, a lot of people say, ‘Let’s tear the system down. Tear it all down.’ Last time I checked, no bombs were falling on us. We have a good standard of living in America.”
Dans is “a guy who’s been fighting for MAGA, for President Trump, and been extremely successful at it,” he said in his speech. But Trump has endorsed Graham for reelection and will join Graham at a fundraising event in November, according to Politico.
Trump’s endorsement came months before Dans launched his campaign, and the President might not know how much of a “warrior” he has been for him, Dans said.
“Look, President Trump endorsed Mitch McConnell. He’s endorsed Mitt Romney. He has had some doozies in the past,” Dans said. “Every day he rolls out another Project 2025 policy, I feel like an angel gets its wings and (it’s) an endorsement of what I stand for.”
Project 2025, or the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, is a policy document from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Trump’s 2024 campaign distanced itself from the document. Trump said he knew nothing about the project and that some parts of it were "ridiculous and abysmal" in a Truth Social post on Jul. 5, 2024. Dans stepped down from the project later that month, The New York Times reported.
Munson feels the lack of a Trump endorsement is significant, he said.
“I think it speaks some volume that President Trump didn’t endorse him,” Munson said. “He can say he’s Trump’s right-hand man, but (Trump) can pull out an endorsement of (Graham) if he really wanted to. But he knows that this guy isn’t necessarily the real deal, which is what I think.”
U.S. Senate candidate Paul Dans speaks with a USC student during a speaking event in the Russell House on Oct. 27, 2025. Dans previously led the conservative political initiative Project 2025, which aims to reshape the federal government to reflect right-wing policy.
South Carolinians are likely going to vote for a candidate from the state, said Landon Lyle, a first-year finance, economics, risk management and political science student. Dans primarily grew up in Virginia and Maryland, he said during his speech.
Lyle decided to come after seeing Mark Lynch, another Republican challenging Graham, speak. He does not see a scenario in which either Lynch or Dans win, he said.
College Republicans of America, the national-level organization, endorsed Dans earlier in October.
“Paul Dans is the exact candidate that our country needs to represent the needs of America’s youth and to continue to usher in our national revival,” a statement from College Republicans of America’s president, Martin Bertao said.
That endorsement does not extend to USC’s College Republicans chapter. It will hold off on endorsements until primaries are over, chapter President Noah Lindler said.
“Given how new our chapter is, we really just want to focus on growth and ensure we’re welcome to anybody, regardless of who they support,” Lindler said.
If it does endorse candidates, the organization will make it clear that it is open to members who do not support the endorsed candidate, Lindler added.
USC’s College Republicans chapter became inactive during the pandemic but was revived in the spring of 2024, Lindler said. The new founding members were with Turning Point USA’s chapter on campus, but they wanted to endorse Trump in the 2024 election. Turning Point’s nonprofit status prevents it from making political endorsements.
Graham has served as a U.S. Senator from South Carolina since 2003. There will also be an election for the state's governor and all seats in the House of Representatives in 2026. Primaries for congressional positions are on June 9, 2026.