South Carolina U.S. Senate candidates clashed Sunday night during a debate that also featured Libertarian candidate Kasie Whitener, with Republican Sen. Darline Graham and Democratic challenger Annie Andrews sparring over party loyalty and political labels.
Graham accused Andrews of being unwilling to break from national Democrats, invoking the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. “I’m concerned about the socialist Democrats,” Graham said, asserting that Democrats in New York had cheered “over the death of over a thousand people” following the attack. She added, “Annie Andrews will not stand up to the socialist Democratic Party. She’s only going to join them.”
Andrews pushed back immediately, saying she had anticipated the attack line. “I told you my opponent was going to call me a socialist and there she’s done it again. She’s been told to come out here and call me Bernie, Ocasio, Mamdani. That’s what’s in her script,” Andrews said, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Andrews then turned the exchange toward her own name, noting, “My name is Annie Andrews. And there shouldn’t be any confusion about that because unlike my opponent, I haven’t changed my name recently.”
She went on to argue that she, not Graham, would be the one willing to defy her own party in office. “The real difference between me and Sen. Graham is that I will stand up to my own party and I will always put South Carolina first. She seems to believe the job she has right now is to be the White House’s ambassador to South Carolina. The job is to represent South Carolina. She considers the job to be to read their scripts and do their bidding. And we can do better,” Andrews said.
Graham responded directly to the name comment, saying her legal name has always been Graham. “My legal name is Graham. It has always been Graham,” she said. “I lost my parents when I was a little girl and I kept the name Graham so that I felt connected to them. So my name, every document I have ever signed, has Graham on it.”
Darline Graham was appointed to the Senate by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster following the death of her brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, to serve the remainder of his term. President Donald Trump has endorsed Darline Graham for a full six-year term in the upcoming election.
