Annie Andrews Wins South Carolina Senate Seat, First Democrat in 28 Years

Pediatrician Annie Andrews defeated appointed Republican Senator Darline Graham on November 3 to win South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat. The Associated Press called the race at 10:39 p.m. EST. Andrews received roughly 51 percent of the vote to Graham’s 47 percent, a margin of about 50,000 votes out of just over 2 million cast.

Andrews becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina since Fritz Hollings in 1998. She is also the first woman the state has elected to the chamber. Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, was appointed in July after her brother died of a ruptured aorta and later won the Republican nomination with President Trump’s endorsement.

In her Charleston victory speech, Andrews told supporters, “You have shown the nation what is possible.” She had campaigned on healthcare costs, data-center concerns, and limiting Washington influence. Graham conceded and called Andrews to wish her well. She said the past few months had been very difficult and that she would trade the race to have her brother back.

Andrews won counties that President Trump carried by large margins in 2024. Greenville County, which Trump won by 22 points, went for Andrews by 2 points. York County, which Trump carried by 19 points, went for Andrews by 3 points. She doubled the number of counties Kamala Harris won in the state two years earlier.

The race was not expected to be competitive. Early polls showed Graham ahead. A New York Times/Siena survey in the final week found the candidates tied at 48 percent each. Graham had limited national political experience. In an August debate she said she was “not that informed on national security” when asked about U.S. policy toward Taiwan. Republican voters did not fully consolidate behind her.

Andrews is a mother of three who previously ran for the U.S. House. She enters a Senate in which Democrats hold at least 54 seats, including independents. Her win adds one of the more surprising seats in a night that saw Democrats take control of both chambers. South Carolina also elected Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson as governor over Democrat Jermaine Johnson.

The result ends 28 years of continuous Republican control of the seat. Hollings left office in 2005. Lindsey Graham held it from then until his death in July 2026. Andrews now faces the task of representing a state that still sends a majority of its votes to Republicans in most other races. Her margin came from higher turnout and gains in suburban and some traditionally Republican counties rather than a wholesale realignment.

South Carolina cast more than 2 million ballots, breaking a previous record set in a gubernatorial election. Andrews’s campaign emphasized pocketbook issues over national party branding. She spoke about children she treated as a pediatrician and decisions in Washington that affected their families. That message resonated enough to overcome the state’s partisan lean.

Darline Graham’s appointment and Trump endorsement did not produce the expected Republican unity. Some voters who backed Trump in 2024 crossed over or stayed home. Andrews’s victory speech focused on the state rather than national themes. She said the win belonged to South Carolina, not to her personally. The seat will be contested again in 2032 under normal six-year terms.

Democrats now hold Senate seats in South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina, and several other states that were not on most pre-election maps as competitive. The South Carolina result is among the largest single-state shifts of the cycle in percentage terms. Andrews takes office in January with a Democratic majority that can set the floor agenda and confirm or block executive nominees.