In a shocking upset Tuesday night, Annie Andrews beat out incumbent Darlene Graham for South Carolina's open Senate seat, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office this millennium.
Andrews, who campaigned on cost-of-living issues President Trump and the G.O.P. have downplayed, won over traditional bases of conservative support in the Upstate alongside reliably blue urban centers in Columbia and Charleston. Graham underperformed Trump's 2024 result in every county in the state, according to the New York Times, and lost the race by more than 90,000 votes.
Andrews, a pediatrician and the first woman elected to the Senate in South Carolina history, told supporters and reporters at a public appearance on Wednesday that her number-one priority when she is sworn in will be to fend off proposed cuts to Medicaid, according to the Post & Courier. She and other newly minted senators will be inaugurated in January into a Congress dominated by Democrats at a scale not seen since 2008. Democratic candidates flipped seven Senate seats, including in Texas and Iowa, and may yet conquer razor-thin margins in Alaska and Mississippi.
However, support for Andrews didn't necessarily translate to support for other Democrats down-ballot, though several statewide races were tighter than expected. Republican and current S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson was elected to replace Gov. Henry McMaster as governor, and Republican incumbents for S.C. Superintendent of Education, Secretary of State and Commissioner of Agriculture will remain in office.
Young voters, ages 18 to 29, pulled the largest 180, shifting left by 32 points compared to the 2024 general election, according to the New York Times.
USC students played their part at the polls, some for their first general election ever, and had a lot to say about the results.
One sophomore, Alexia Lumpkin, felt like her first ballot had added weight given the sweeping Democratic victory.
"Being able to participate in voting this year, it felt really good to see a Democrat win," Lumpkin said. She also said the upset felt like a win for both Black and female voters in the state.
"As an African American I feel like it was really good to see a Democrat win, because in South Carolina that's not something that usually happens," Lumpkin said. "And sometimes for a woman, it's really hard to win over other people, and I feel like it is just very inspirational for other women, and it gives motivation for other women to do the same thing she did."
Andrews voter Kate Young, a junior, said the Senate result came as a shock, though the governor's race ended as she expected.
"I was pretty shocked when she did win because South Carolina is pretty notoriously a red state, but I'm happy she did," Young said. "I wasn't really surprised by the governor position only because Republicans have a pretty big control over the state. But overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the results."
However, for some, theRepublicans' fumble seemed a long time in the making.
"I wasn't really too surprised. I think the Republican Party's been sort of split up in the past couple years since Trump got elected," junior Giacomo Jreige said. "I also don't think it was the smartest thing for Republicans to just throw in Darlene Graham after Lindsey Graham passed, so I wasn't really too surprised to be honest, but the Democrats got a big win in South Carolina for sure."
