[POSTANDCOURIER] Three Republican candidates already have announced they are gunning for South Carolina's senior senator when he seeks re-election next year.
And if they can force him into a runoff next June, that could pose problems for the state's most visible political figure.
Last week, state Sen. Lee Bright of Spartanburg announced he was running, joining Piedmont businessman Richard Cash and Nancy Mace, a consultant who also was the first woman to graduate from The Citadel. Still more candidates could emerge before filing ends in March.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said it's too early to predict outcomes, but Graham is most vulnerable in the June primary rather than in the general election.
"The fact that Graham has drawn these opponents reflects what we have all heard over the past few years -- many tea party Republicans want him out," he said. "If anyone, or the combination of multiple candidacies, forces him into a runoff, Graham could be in real trouble."
Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said Graham's early advantage is that his announced and potential challengers come from the dissatisfied wing of the party and seem destined to divide that slice of the vote.
He predicted they'll create "a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"The loudest people of the party don't tend to be his fans," Huffmon added, pointing to those who don't support any reaching out across the aisle to Democrats, as Graham has done in the past. 
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