Democrat Annie Andrews has defeated appointed Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, a ruby-red state, according to projections from the Fox News Decision Desk. The race was called on election night, and Andrews, a pediatrician who ran as an outsider, will take a six-year Senate term. She becomes the first Democrat in nearly three decades to win a Senate election in South Carolina, and the first since Fritz Hollings won in 1998, in a state Donald Trump carried by 18 points in 2024.
The result is a significant defeat for a candidate who carried one of the most familiar names in the state. Graham is the younger sister of the late longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly in July. Shortly after his death, Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to fill the remainder of his term, which ends at the close of this year. Lindsey Graham had already won renomination in South Carolina's June primary before he died. Trump lobbied for the appointment and later urged her to run. He posted «RUN, DARLINE, RUN!» on Truth Social and promised his «complete and total endorsement.» She announced her campaign on Fox News days later.
Her path to the nomination was narrow. Graham entered a crowded special Republican primary of 10 candidates, and she advanced to a runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman. She won that late-August runoff by less than five points. As the general election tightened, Trump returned to the state twice in the final weeks, rallying for her in Pendleton on Oct. 21 and in Rock Hill a week later. At the Pendleton stop he praised her, saying, ««She's smart and incredible. She'll never let you down.»» A Citadel poll had shown Andrews trailing by one point before the final stretch, and nonpartisan handicappers had shifted the contest toward Democrats as Election Day approached. Outside groups aligned with both parties spent heavily in the closing days.
Graham campaigned on continuing her brother's Senate work and on cost-of-living concerns. She said she understood financial pressure from her own life, and she pointed to gas prices, calling suspending the gas tax a temporary fix. She also backed easing regulations on drilling and oil refineries as a long-term solution, and she welcomed Trump's easing of rules on red-dyed diesel, which she said helps farmers. Andrews made affordability and healthcare costs the centerpiece of her campaign. She drew on two decades of experience as a pediatrician, saying she had seen the failures of the healthcare system in her hospital exam rooms. «I never in a million years thought I would be running for federal office, let alone a US Senate seat,» she said in a Fox News Digital interview.
The outcome also cut across the ballot. In South Carolina, the Republican gubernatorial candidate Alan Wilson held a narrow lead as results came in, and enough Republicans backed him while voting for Andrews that Graham trailed him by roughly 10 points. Ticket-splitting was rare in other races that night, making South Carolina an exception. Democratic strategist Mally Smith said in a statement to Fox News Digital that «South Carolina bows to no king,» adding that voters had «emphatically rejected» the choice Trump made to succeed his ally.