The Fox News Decision Desk projects that Democratic challenger Annie Andrews has defeated appointed GOP Sen. Darline Graham, the younger sister of the late longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, to win a six-year term representing South Carolina in the Senate.
With her major upset, Andrews, a pediatrician who ran as an outsider, becomes the first Democrat in nearly three decades to win a Senate election in South Carolina. Having a very familiar name in South Carolina and receiving two 11th-hour campaign trail stops by President Donald Trump weren't enough to help push Graham over the finish line in the ruby-red southeastern state. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB The race became increasingly competitive in the final weeks of the campaign.
And outside groups aligned with Republicans and Democrats poured cash and resources into the ballot box showdown at the 11th hour. With some of the top nonpartisan political handicappers shifting the contest in the direction of the Democrats, Trump traveled to South Carolina with less than two weeks until Election Day to rally with Graham. "She’s smart and incredible.
She’ll never let you down," Trump said as he praised Graham at an Oct. 21 stop in Upstate South Carolina. Democratic strategist Mally Smith told Fox News Digital that "South Carolina bows to no king." "President Trump tried to hand-pick his successor in South Carolina, and the voters emphatically rejected his choice. Americans are sick of electing MAGA puppets to higher office who enable Trump’s erratic behavior and blatant corruption," said Smith.
During the general election campaign, Graham emphasized her support for Trump’s agenda, continuing her brother’s work in the Senate, and spotlighting cost of living issues. "I know how it feels to live paycheck to paycheck. There's been many years in my life that I've lived paycheck to paycheck like a lot of South Carolinians.
So I know they're feeling it at the gas pumps," Graham said in a recent interview on Fox News' "America Reports." "Suspending the gas tax, that's a temporary solution. I'm glad that President Trump eased regulations on red-dyed diesel. I think that helps farmers.
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