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Alongside House majority leader Eric Cantor鈥檚 stunning loss to college professor David Brat in central Virginia, Sen. Lindsey Graham鈥檚 decisive victory on Tuesday in the South Carolina Republican primary provides a curious bookend to a night when GOP establishment gains in recent primaries were upended en masse by a dark-horse tea party challenger.

Senator Graham鈥檚 South Carolina drawl is unmistakable: all Southern sweet inlaid with mirth and barbs. One minute he鈥檚 talking about reaching across the aisle to 鈥渟olve problems,鈥� the next about 鈥渂ashing the head鈥� of a Democratic challenger.

While Cantor may have lost because of what Politico called his 鈥渟quishy鈥� stance on immigration reform, Graham is an unapologetic supporter of a path to citizenship for America鈥檚 estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, in a state where the immigration-cautious tea party helped elect three members of Congress in 2012.

To be sure, Graham 鈥� who鈥檚 not afraid to tear into red-meat issues such as Benghazi and Bergdahl on Fox News 鈥� has said his popularity in one of the country鈥檚 most hard-right states is a direct rebuke to the GOP鈥檚 tea party wing and shows that voters, as he told a crowd recently, are 鈥渁bout the Republican Party moving forward, not backward.鈥�

鈥淓ver since the rise of the Tea Party, Graham 鈥� a politician who seems to delight in sticking his finger in the eye of the Republican base 鈥� has been on the front lines of the struggle for the soul of the GOP,鈥� . 鈥淔or years, they have heckled him and called him names. But now he is having the last laugh.鈥�

Graham鈥檚 victory can be read many ways: Six Graham challengers, many hailing a tea party flag, simply failed to gain traction, and the outside money that has helped long-shots in the past never quite appeared.

Yet political analysts credit Graham鈥檚 win largely to Graham himself. A veteran politician (he took office in 2003), Graham ran a careful ground game from the start 鈥� in contrast to Cantor, whose campaign was lulled into complacency by polls suggesting he鈥檇 win big. Graham raised money inside and outside the state 鈥� $13 million, to be precise, raising $4 for every $1 raised by his opponents 鈥� and continued to do what he genuinely seems to like doing: pressing flesh at farmers鈥� markets and small town festivals. 鈥淭his is my life 鈥� and my job,鈥� he told the State newspaper earlier this year.聽

In contrast to six-term Sen. Thad Cochran (R) of Mississippi, who is now vulnerable against a tea party challenger in a June 24 runoff, Graham turned his bristly energy to an early ground game. Over a year ago, he set into motion a plan that included 5,000 precinct captains and six Palmetto State field offices.

But Graham is also a powerful Washington pol unafraid to play the parlor games that can make a difference. The two people who could have at least forced a runoff with Graham 鈥� Reps. Trey Gowdy and Mick Mulvaney 鈥� both stayed off the chess board in the 2014 cycle. Whether that was a favor to Graham, who helped secure them plum committee posts, well, nobody鈥檚 saying.

Challengers represented a vocal corner of the Republican base long frustrated with Graham鈥檚 moderate stance on issues ranging from immigration to the national debt ceiling. State Sen. Lee Bright finished a distant second, followed by Columbia pastor Det Bowers, businessman Richard Cash, attorneys Bill Connor and Benjamin Dunn, and PR executive Nancy Mace.

For establishment Republicans, who had almost managed to declare the insurgent tea party wing dead after maneuvering around multiple challenges this political season, Graham鈥檚 win on Tuesday night stood out as small piece of comfort against Brat鈥檚 out-of-right-field defeat of Cantor.

While the victory is certainly a testament to Graham鈥檚 political skills, it鈥檚 far from certain whether it suggests, as Graham said in a speech this week, that he has "tapped into" a 鈥渟ilent majority鈥� of Republicans.

Whether it鈥檚 his message or his acumen that drove Tuesday's results, his victory could decide the plight of at least one major problem facing the country: illegal immigration. Cantor鈥檚 defeat, say some political analysts, probably takes any major reform off the table for the time being.

But Tuesday night, the White House saw in Graham鈥檚 victory a ray of hope. 鈥淐antor鈥檚 problem wasn鈥檛 his position on immigration reform, it was his lack of a position,鈥� tweeted White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer. 鈥淕raham wrote and passed a bill and is winning big.鈥�

"What my opponents saw as my biggest fault, which was trying to solve a problem, South Carolina Republicans saw as my greatest asset," Graham said, as he celebrated his victory at the Hilton in Columbia.