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How did Republicans lose a Senate seat in fireball-red South Carolina?
Democrat Annie Andrews won South Carolina’s US Senate race, defeating Republican Darline Graham in a major upset in a state that remains strongly conservative. The result has prompted Republicans to examine why their candidate lost despite the party winning other statewide contests by similar margins.
Turnout appears central: a Republican official said 500,000 people who voted in 2024 did not vote in 2026, including 400,000 Republicans, while more Black and other traditionally Democratic voters turned out than expected. Graham, 62, had been appointed after her brother Lindsey Graham died in July and entered the race after Donald Trump urged her to run; officials also pointed to voter frustration with how elected representatives handled their work.
In short
- Annie Andrews won South Carolina’s Senate race by five points.
- About 400,000 Republican 2024 voters stayed home.
- Republicans say the result reflects turnout and voter frustration.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Democrats could argue the result reflects a real shift in participation: more Black and other traditionally Democratic voters turned out, while many Republicans who voted in 2024 stayed home. Frustration with elected representatives may also have made Graham’s appointment and late entry into the race harder to overcome, even in a strongly conservative state.
The case against
Republicans could argue the upset was driven chiefly by an unusual turnout gap, with hundreds of thousands of previous voters absent, rather than a broad change in South Carolina’s political preferences. Graham’s late entry after her brother’s death and Trump’s urging may have left too little time to build support, while the party’s success in other statewide contests suggests the result was specific to this race.
Americas Elections Government Politics World