Dans, who is set to formally announce his campaign at an event Wednesday in Charleston, said Graham has spent most of his career in Washington and "it's time to show him the door."

Paul Dans helped write conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a detailed blueprint to downsize the federal government and implement other right-wing priorities.

This is ultimately a steel-cage match for the future of MAGA,” said Dans, the former director of the right-wing blueprint that has informed Trump’s second term.