Polling Average
60%50%40%30%20%10%0%
12.8%
51.3%
10.0%
Republican
Paul Dans
South Carolina Republican Senate nominee?
$560.6K
JUN 10, 2026Primary Election
Party selects its nominee.
Overview
Current roleAttorney
PartyRepublican
Political ideologyConservative Republican
GenderMale
LocationSouth Carolina
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BackgroundAttorney
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (thesis, 1992)
Notable personal detailsPaul Edouard Dans is an American attorney, political operative, and Republican candidate who ran for U.S. Senate in South Carolina in the 2026 cycle. He led the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 initiative and previously served in the Trump administration at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, including as White House liaison/senior adviser and later as chief of staff. His background also includes work with federal housing/community planning issues at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
SourcesShowHide
docquery.fec.goven.wikipedia.orgapnews.comnextgov.comaxios.comlinkedin.comes.wikipedia.orgpropublica.orgsenate.govpauldans.comdailygamecock.comthedailybeast.comthestate.comrepublicanleader.senate.govpolymarket.comoctagonai.cowhoboughtmyrep.comfr.wikipedia.orgwashingtonpost.compolitifact.com2025.aksi.colive5news.comtheguardian.comproject2025.orgiheart.comadvocate.comtheweek.inabc11.comspglobal.comfec.govnrsc.orgnewsweek.comupi.comyahoo.comwistv.comms.nowabcnews.go.comcbsnews.comgames-cdn.washingtonpost.comhuffman.house.govlofgren.house.govcongress.govhsgac.senate.govscott.senate.govgovinfo.gov
Positions
LiberalConservative
Economy & Taxes
Paul Dans advocates reducing the size and cost of federal government, confronting the national debt, and advancing Project 2025 policy prescriptions that call for substantial tax-code changes including large tax reductions and simplification (e.g., fewer brackets and lower corporate rates). His campaign rhetoric emphasizes cutting spending and ending “endless” government programs. These positions align with a conservative, pro-tax-cut, limited-government economic approach.
Healthcare
Paul Dans, as the lead architect of Project 2025 and now a Senate candidate, advocates policy approaches that reduce the federal role in health programs and expand market-based or state-centered alternatives. Project 2025 — which Dans directed — includes proposals to tighten Medicaid eligibility, offer options to convert Medicaid into vouchers, and reduce federal oversight of health agencies. Dans has also criticized incumbent Lindsey Graham for not supporting "medical freedom," signaling opposition to federal mandates in public health policy.
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Immigration & Border
The candidate is associated with Project 2025, a policy blueprint that calls for dramatically tougher immigration enforcement, including expanded deportations and interior enforcement, curtailing asylum and refugee admissions, and restructuring federal immigration agencies. The Project 2025 materials and reporting describe proposals to expand border barriers and enforcement capacity, end or sharply limit asylum/refugee pathways, and increase removals. These positions indicate an enforcement-first, restrictionist approach to immigration and border policy.
Abortion & Reproductive Rights
Paul Dans led the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which includes policy proposals to significantly limit access to abortion (for example revoking FDA approval of mifepristone and restricting federal funding and cross-state access). Dans has characterized abortion as primarily a state issue and indicated opposition to federal imposition, while directing a policy project that advances restrictive measures.
Climate & Energy
Paul Dans led the conservative 'Project 2025' initiative and has expressed skepticism that human activity is the cause of climate change. The Project 2025 blueprint he directed calls for repealing major climate and clean‑energy policies, rolling back EPA and DOE authorities, and expanding fossil fuel production and deregulation.
Polls
South Carolina Republican Senate nominee?
Aggregation source: FiftyPlusOne
Fundraising
Latest report: Cycle 2026Total raisedCash on hand
$1.0M
$758.6K
$505.7K
$252.9K
$0
2026
LatestYear
Total raised
Cash on hand
Total spent
Burn rate
Cycle 2026
$1.0M
$446.2K
$565.2K
$37.7K
Source: FEC
New updates coming soon
We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.
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