--- title: South Carolina Presidential Straw Poll Leaves Out Lindsey Graham description: A straw poll of Republican presidential contenders in South Carolina left off Lindsey Graham, even though it had 25 names on it. canonical: https://time.com/3741415/lindsey-graham-south-carolina-straw-poll/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-11T22:05:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:22.026Z article:section: Politics og:title: S.C. Presidential Straw Poll Leaves Out Lindsey Graham og:description: It had 25 names, including some who aren't even running. og:url: https://time.com/3741415/lindsey-graham-south-carolina-straw-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d35cb06b54bed3/698782b92dce018baa9ddefb/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Sen. Lindsey Graham og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: S.C. Presidential Straw Poll Leaves Out Lindsey Graham twitter:description: It had 25 names, including some who aren't even running. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d35cb06b54bed3/698782b92dce018baa9ddefb/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # South Carolina Presidential Straw Poll Leaves Out Lindsey Graham > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Mar 11, 2015 10:05 PM UTC  Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference in Washington D.C., March 26, 2014 . Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference in Washington D.C., March 26, 2014 . Bill Clark—CQ Roll Call/Getty Images by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Mar 11, 2015 10:05 PM UTC Sen. Lindsey Graham is the Rodney Dangerfield of the 2016 Republican presidential primary: He can’t get no respect. Almost two months after the South Carolina Republican announced that he was “definitely” looking at a presidential run, an online [straw poll](https://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/screen-shot-2015-03-11-at-1-56-50-pm.png) from his home state’s party still did not include him. To make the oversight hurt just a little more, the straw poll had 25 names on it, including such unlikely candidates as former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It even listed the state’s junior senator, Tim Scott. When asked if Scott was interested in running for president, spokesman Sean Smith said: “Easy answer: nope.” Graham fans could still fill out a box for a write-in candidate, however. South Carolina GOP party chairman Matt Moore was notified of Graham’s absence when TIME emailed him about it Wednesday. He said that the poll was created before Graham became more publicly vocal about a run, although he had floated the possibility [last fall](http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/10/03/lindsey-graham-presidential-race-gop-hawk/). “That straw poll was done late last year before the New Year,” said Moore. “So it’s no reflection upon him. It was just a poll we put together last year and I expect we’ll be adding Sen. Graham pretty soon. In other words, take a look today again.” “You raised a good point,” he added. ”He’s been in recent polls so people can end up choosing him.” By Wednesday afternoon, the [poll](http://www.scgop.com/2016strawpoll/) had been updated to include Graham’s name. But there may be little appetite for a Graham run in his own [home state](https://twitter.com/mmurraypolitics/status/566966080917475328). A week ago, a [Winthrop Poll](http://www.winthrop.edu/winthroppoll/default.aspx?id=9804) found that 60 percent of South Carolinians and two thirds of the state’s registered voters think he should not run for president in 2016. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3741415/lindsey-graham-south-carolina-straw-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3741415/lindsey-graham-south-carolina-straw-poll/"},"headline":"South Carolina Presidential Straw Poll Leaves Out Lindsey Graham","datePublished":"2015-03-11T22:05:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:22.026Z","description":"A straw poll of Republican presidential contenders in South Carolina left off Lindsey Graham, even though it had 25 names on it.","url":"https://time.com/3741415/lindsey-graham-south-carolina-straw-poll/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Congress","South Carolina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d35cb06b54bed3/698782b92dce018baa9ddefb/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d35cb06b54bed3/698782b92dce018baa9ddefb/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sen. 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