Sen. Graham Draws a Fourth GOP Primary Challenger

A tea party activist who closely identifies with Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, and Rand Paul of Kentucky has become the fourth Republican to challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Bill Connor, a lawyer and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, declared his candidacy in the 2014 GOP primary next June at a meeting of the Myrtle Beach Tea Party on Monday night, The Times & Democrat of Orangeburg reports.

"[Graham was] very liberal around the first four years and then turns conservative," Connor told the newspaper.

"He goes against my value system and a lot of conservatives in South Carolina."

Connor said Graham's votes to support U.S. Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor were "very telling" because both ended up supporting the Affordable Care Act  from the bench.

"They are extremely liberal judges," Connor said.

Connor said he will represent the Palmetto State's "kitchen table values" and join Cruz, Lee, and Paul in "fighting for a solution to Washington's problems."

The other GOP candidates who have announced their own primary challenges to Graham are state Sen. Lee Bright of Spartanburg, missionary Richard Cash, and businesswoman Nancy Mace.

In 2010, Connor, a married father of three, lost a bid to become the state's lieutenant governor to Ken Ard. A partner in the law firm of Horger & Connor in Orangeburg, Connor was also once a senior U.S. military adviser in Afghanistan.

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