Pediatrician Annie Andrews wins South Carolina Senate seat for Democrats

Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, won South Carolina's U.S. Senate race on Tuesday, defeating interim Republican Sen. Darline Graham and ending decades of Republican control of the seat.

Andrews becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina since Fritz Hollings won his final term in 1998, and the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

"I think we just made some history," Andrews told supporters after the race was called. "The Senate seat does not belong to one family, one party or to Washington, D.C."

Graham had served as interim senator since the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, earlier this year. Lindsey Graham had been seeking a fifth term when he died, and Republicans had expected to hold the seat.

Darline Graham had won a contested special primary before facing Andrews, with an endorsement and campaign visits from President Donald Trump, a close ally of her brother. GOP groups later put money into the race after Graham, a political novice, became the nominee.

Andrews had been campaigning for more than a year and had already won her primary when Lindsey Graham died. She had challenged Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022 and lost, but stayed in the public eye afterward. She had never held elected office or run statewide before this campaign.

The two candidates met for one debate last month, trading attacks over the economy, the war with Iran and artificial intelligence. Much of the evening focused on each candidate's claim that the other was not ready for the job.

A New York Times/Siena poll in October showed a tight race, and Democrats pointed to criticism of Graham's lack of experience as evidence the contest had grown competitive. Polls had also shown a close race in 2020, when Lindsey Graham beat Democrat Jaime Harrison by 10 points in a race that drew hundreds of millions of dollars in spending.

Voter Brent Chaplin, who said he had always backed Republicans, voted for Andrews in Fort Mill. "You just can't go and say, 'I'm a Republican. I'm just going to vote Republican,'" Chaplin said. "You've got to put some brain power into it and think about it."

Republicans have held both of South Carolina's Senate seats since Hollings left office in 2005. Jim Clyburn is the only Democrat now representing the state in the U.S. House.