South Carolina Democrats have selected Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, as their candidate to challenge incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, in the upcoming November election. Andrews won a three-way primary contest on Tuesday. South Carolina has not elected a Democratic senator since the 1990s, with the last being Fritz Hollings, who retired in 2005.
Andrews has stated her primary goal is to unseat Graham, but she has also expressed intentions to lead efforts to impeach Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a recent rally. While the Senate does not initiate impeachment proceedings, it serves as the final step in the process.
In an op-ed published earlier this year, Andrews criticized Kennedy's role in the recent measles outbreak in South Carolina, emphasizing the importance of leadership in public health. She noted that Kennedy has been a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement, which has contributed to communities falling below the herd immunity threshold necessary to prevent outbreaks.
Graham recently won a six-way primary contest, which was seen as a test of former President Donald Trump's endorsement influence within the Republican Party. One of Graham's challengers, Mark Lynch, received support from Trump’s former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who argued that Lynch was well-positioned to defeat Graham.