Democrat Annie Andrews has unseated Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, winning a state President Donald Trump carried by nearly 18 points and giving her party its first Senate victory there since 1998.

Graham was appointed this summer to serve out the term of her late brother, Lindsey Graham. Trump traveled to South Carolina to bolster her campaign both before her primary runoff and ahead of the general election.

The seat had been expected to stay in Republican hands in reliably red South Carolina. But Graham’s struggles as a candidate gave Democrats an opening.

The Democratic National Committee recently made South Carolina the first state on its 2028 presidential primary calendar, underscoring the importance of the state’s Black voters to the party. That decision, though, wasn’t expected to make South Carolina competitive in statewide general elections anytime soon.

Still, in the campaign’s final weeks, Democrats came to see the state as a place where Republicans were vulnerable.

Andrews, a pediatrician, showed fundraising strength that suggested the race could be closer than expected. Democrats had similar hopes in 2020 for Jaime Harrison, who later became DNC chair. He lost to Lindsey Graham by 10 points, and the South has remained difficult terrain for Democrats since.

Andrews had also lost a previous bid for office, falling by double digits to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2022.

The money and attention that poured into South Carolina in the campaign’s closing weeks showed how much defense Republicans were playing to keep control of the Senate.

In South Carolina, it wasn’t enough.

The post Annie Andrews defeats Darline Graham, flipping South Carolina for Democrats appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.