South Carolina Democrats Select Challenger for Sen. Lindsey Graham

South Carolina Democrats have identified their likely challenger to face incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham in the upcoming election. Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, emerged victorious in a three-way primary contest on Tuesday and is expected to compete against Graham, who is aiming for a fifth term.

Democrats in South Carolina have not sent a representative to the Senate since the 1990s. The last Democratic senator was Fritz Hollings, who retired in 2005. Despite this history, Andrews is recognized in the state’s political circles.

Andrews debated Rep. Nancy Mace for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2022, highlighting her active engagement in state politics.

“Kennedy has been a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement for decades, which has led communities across the country to slip below the herd immunity threshold for the prevention of outbreaks of infections like measles,” Andrews wrote in an op-ed for MS Now earlier this year, criticizing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

She emphasized that while Kennedy wasn’t solely to blame for a recent measles outbreak, leadership plays a vital role in public health outcomes.

Graham’s six-way primary battle, including candidate Mark Lynch, acts as a measure of former President Donald Trump’s influence. Lynch, a constitutional conservative endorsed by Trump’s former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, pushes for a Congress with more members like MTG, Gaetz, and Massie.