A group of prominent upstate Republican leaders in South Carolina is planning to disrupt the ‘first in the South’ primary by urging GOP voters in the state to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders in the February 29th Democratic primary.

The plan, orchestrated by Greenville GOP chairman Nate Leupp and inspired by prominent conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s 2008 plan—‘Operation Chaos’—revolves around the party leadership’s belief that Sanders would pose the least threat to Donald Trump in a general election. It also has the added benefit of forcing the State’s Democratic lawmakers to agree to close the primaries.

“Bernie Sanders is the most socialistic, liberal candidate running in the Democratic presidential preference primary,” Leupp told The Post and Courier. “So we feel we can make a strong point that our Democratic state legislators need to help work to close our primaries so it protects them as well as the Republican brand.”

South Carolina has an open primary. This means that voters don’t have to be associated with the Democratic party to vote in the primary.

Leupp believes that the Republicans can “easily affect the outcome” of the race. The sad thing is, he’s not wrong. In 2016, about 740,000 voters participated in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary, compared to 370,000 in the Democratic primary.

They might be motivated to support this plan since the state cancelled its GOP primary. Leupp hopes that South Carolina Republican voters will see the opportunity as a way in which they are helping Donald Trump, by making his path to re-election easier.

In a statement responding to the reporting, South Carolina GOP Executive Director Hope Walker said that the broader state Republican Party is not a part of this effort.

“We do not like Democrats meddling in our primaries and we certainly do not encourage the same thing from Republican voters. While there are some groups and Republican activists that may decide to participate in the open Democratic Presidential Preference Primary on Feb. 29, the South Carolina Republican Party has taken no official stand on this matter nor will it encourage our members to do so.” Walker said.