Democrat Annie Andrews flips South Carolina’s Senate seat

Charleston, South Carolina, US – South Carolina has elected a Democrat to the US Senate for the first time since 1998, according to the Associated Press news agency. In a major upset for the Republican Party, Annie Andrews won in a state seen as a solid Republican stronghold.

“I think we just made some history,” Andrews said on Tuesday night after results came in.

Andrews outraised Republican candidate Darline Graham by more than $22m, according to Federal Election Commission filings, primarily with grassroots donations. She had pledged to take no money from corporate political action committees (PACs).

Andrews campaigned on lowering costs for working families, expanding affordable healthcare and protecting reproductive rights, and on opposing endless wars.

Despite South Carolina being reliably conservative, many voters, including Republicans, believed Graham to be unqualified.

After Republican Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly in July, his younger sister, Darline, was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term. She went on to win a special primary runoff for the Republican nomination with US President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

Despite Trump’s endorsement, Graham struggled to unite conservatives behind her candidacy. During a primary debate, she said she was “not that informed on national security” and that “national security is not my thing”.

In the final month of the campaign, Trump made multiple appearances alongside Graham, an unusual investment of presidential time in a state Republicans normally win comfortably.

On Tuesday night, Andrews said Graham had called her and congratulated her on her win, which Andrews said she thanked her for.

In a victory speech, Andrews said, “This Senate seat doesn’t belong to one family, one party, or to Washington, DC. It belongs to you and it always will.”

“Nobody in Washington recruited me to run. Nobody handed me a seat in the United States Senate. And nobody wrote me a script,” Andrews said. “I owe no one in Washington anything.”

A group of medical students who attend the same medical school as Andrews were celebrating her win at the election watch party. They also volunteer at the free clinic in Mount Pleasant that provides free healthcare to uninsured people.

“Having a scientist in that space means a lot to us,” Daniel Newlands, one of the students, told Al Jazeera.

Lela Ali, a regional voting advisor in the South, told Al Jazeera that Andrews’s win could signal a change not only in South Carolina, but also for southern states.

“I think this victory and the gains across the region today gives people across the South a renewed sense of possibility,” Ali said. “We can’t turn our backs on the South.”