Massive upset: Andrews downs Trump-backed Graham in ruby-red South Carolina

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.

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South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews speaks during a campaign stop at the Columbia Bethlehem Community Center on Oct. 6, 2026 in Columbia, S.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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.

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President Donald Trump escorts Republican Senate nominee Sen. Darline Graham of South Carolina off the stage during a campaign rally at T. Ed Garrison Arena at Clemson University on October 21, 2026 in Pendleton, South Carolina. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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 all for that. I'm glad that President Trump eased regulations on red-dyed diesel. I think that helps farmers. But the long-term solution is easing regulations on drilling and oil refineries."

Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a campaign event at the Green Boundary Club on Aug. 24, 2026, in Aiken, S.C. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Andrews also made affordability, along with healthcare costs, a centerpiece of her Senate campaign, and highlighted her experience as a pediatrician working with children and families.

"I never in a million years thought I would be running for federal office, let alone a US Senate seat, but I have 20 years of experience working inside America's broken healthcare system, coming face to face with all of Washington's failures in my hospital exam rooms. And I take that experience and I bring it to the campaign trail," Andrews emphasized in a recent Fox News Digital interview.

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After her brother's sudden death in July, GOP Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham to fill the remainder of the late senator's current term, which concludes at the end of this year.

At the time of his death, Lindsey Graham had won renomination in South Carolina's June primary. With Trump's urging and support, Graham ran in a special Republican Senate nomination primary to succeed her brother. She defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in a late August runoff election after the two advanced two weeks earlier from a crowded 10-candidate primary.

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News