Republican Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to the US Senate after her brother’s sudden death in July, has lost South Carolina’s Senate race to Democrat Annie Andrews. It is one of the most surprising results of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The Associated Press called the race at 10:39pm on Tuesday, according to ABC News 4 in Charleston. CBS News, NBC News and NPR also projected Andrews the winner.
The result
According to TIME, Andrews won about 50.6% of the vote to Graham’s 47.2%, a margin of roughly 3.4 points. The AP called the race with about 93% of the vote counted.
That is a major upset in a deeply Republican state. Donald Trump carried South Carolina by 18 points in 2024, CBS News noted. South Carolina had not elected a Democrat to the US Senate since Ernest “Fritz” Hollings won re-election in 1998. Andrews will also be the first woman the state has ever elected to the Senate.
In her victory speech, Andrews said Graham had called and “congratulated me on our victory tonight,” and she thanked Graham for her public service, TIME reported.
How Darline Graham came to hold the seat
Senator Lindsey Graham, a powerful Republican and close ally of President Trump, died on July 11, 2026, at the age of 71, after what his office described as a brief and sudden illness. CBS News later reported that preliminary findings from the medical examiner in Washington pointed to an aortic dissection. Graham had served in the Senate since 2003.
Governor Henry McMaster then appointed his sister, Darline Graham, 62, to finish his term. She had never held elected office. Before her appointment she was commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, according to CBS News.
She then entered a shortened special Republican primary for the seat. No candidate won outright, and she beat Congressman Ralph Norman in an August runoff by less than five points, with Trump’s endorsement. TIME reported that the contest divided Republicans. Norman said he would vote for Graham but would not campaign with her.
Who is Annie Andrews?
Andrews, 45, is a pediatrician and a mother of three. She will be the first pediatrician ever elected to the US Senate, according to TIME. She ran for Congress in 2022 but lost to Republican Nancy Mace. She had already won the Democratic nomination for the Senate in June, before Lindsey Graham’s death changed the race.
She campaigned on lowering healthcare costs, affordability and fighting corruption in Washington. She also questioned Darline Graham’s experience. During the primary, Graham admitted she was “not that informed on national security,” a remark her opponents used against her. Andrews was endorsed by two former governors from both parties, Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges.
The effects
The loss is a heavy blow to Republicans and to President Trump, who campaigned several times for Graham and urged voters to back her in honour of her brother. Republican groups poured millions into the race in its final weeks, including $5 million from the Senate Leadership Fund in October, CBS News reported.
The seat adds to Democratic gains in a night that gave the party control of both chambers of Congress. It also shows how far the political mood has shifted: TIME cited a recent Pew poll putting Trump’s approval rating at 30%.
For South Carolina, it means the state loses the seniority and influence that Lindsey Graham built over more than two decades, particularly on foreign policy and the Senate Judiciary Committee. It also ends the idea that a famous family name is enough to hold a seat.
What happens next
Results remain unofficial until they are certified in the coming days. Andrews is expected to be sworn in when the new Congress meets in January 2027. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats were ready to work with her “to lower costs and take on corruption.”
Sources: TIME, CBS News, ABC News 4 (WCIV), NBC News, NPR, Parade, The Daily Caller (via AOL).
