Democrat Annie Andrews, pediatrician, leads Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina By Luís Henrique Costa
4 min read
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Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and university professor, has taken the lead in the South Carolina Senate race against Republican Darline Graham. The count on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, put Andrews ahead in a state Donald Trump carried by 17.8 points in 2024. The Associated Press has not called the race, and no official winner has been declared.
Andrews is running ahead of the sister of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11, 2026. Governor Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to the seat in July, after President Donald Trump publicly backed her, even though she had never held or run for elected office. The succession has split the Republican Party and drawn voters who are unhappy with the White House in the suburbs of Charleston, Columbia and Greenville.
Electoral analysts and statistical projection models point to a high chance that Andrews will be confirmed as the winner if the pattern seen in large urban centers holds in the final batches of ballots. A Republican defeat would frustrate the conservative bloc’s plan to keep its majority in federal votes and widen the opposition’s reach over the government’s agenda for the next two years.
The partial result also reflects how local voters reacted to proposals on public health, cost of living and the modernization of community services, the central themes of Andrews’ campaign. A former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, the pediatrician built her platform around dialogue with health professionals, suburban women and moderate voters who reject family-based candidacies in state politics.
Follow: US midterm elections 2026: voters decide all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats
Factors pushing Andrews ahead in the South Carolina count
Several circumstances overlap in the count, and each one pulled votes in a different direction. The main factors are listed below.
- Moderate voters rejected a candidate with no prior legislative experience, which they saw as personal politics
- Voters grew worn down by rising living costs and health expenses, the same areas that dominate Andrews’ medical career
- The local Republican base split after turbulent and bitter special primaries held in August 2026
- Turnout rose in metropolitan areas and in the university communities along the coast
- Independent voters distanced themselves from the policies of the administration of President Donald Trump
Key dates from Lindsey Graham’s death to Election Day
The Senate seat has changed hands through a fast series of events since the middle of 2026. The main dates, from the primaries to the swearing-in, are listed below.
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- June 9, 2026: Lindsey Graham wins the Republican primary for a new term, while Andrews secures the Democratic nomination
- July 11, 2026: Senator Lindsey Graham dies unexpectedly
- July 13, 2026: Governor Henry McMaster appoints Darline Graham, the senator’s sister, to fill the vacancy on an interim basis
- July 14, 2026: Darline Graham is sworn in at the U.S. Senate in Washington
- August 11, 2026: The special Republican primary takes place, and Darline Graham finishes first
- August 25, 2026: Darline Graham wins the runoff against Representative Ralph Norman
- November 3, 2026: Voters across the state cast ballots in the midterm vote
- January 3, 2027: The winner of the six-year term is sworn in at the U.S. Capitol
What the South Carolina seat means for the balance in the Senate
The result in South Carolina will shape how the Senate works over the next two years. The vote also decides several institutional powers, which are listed below.
- Seats: the midterm renews 35 Senate seats and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives nationwide
- Oversight: an opposition victory secures seats on key committees for budget, foreign relations and the judiciary
- Confirmations: the Senate has the exclusive constitutional power to approve or reject presidential nominees for cabinet posts, embassies and federal courts
- History: whoever wins will be the first woman elected to represent South Carolina in the Senate
How the count is checked and when the winner takes office
The count follows federal and state procedures, and several steps remain before the result is final. Ballots mailed by Election Day are still being checked under legal receipt deadlines.
- Preliminary tally: county election boards feed results directly into the count, which the Associated Press computes
- Mail and military ballots: ballots postmarked by Election Day are checked under the state’s legal deadlines for receipt
- Audit and certification: the South Carolina State Election Commission reviews the records in the days after the vote, before certifying the result
- Swearing-in: the winner takes the oath of office before Congress in Washington on January 3, 2027
