SC Dem Senate candidate claims she will stand up to her party as Graham ties her to 'socialist Democrats'

South Carolina's Senate race got a televised airing on Sunday night, when incumbent Republican Darline Graham met Democrat Annie Andrews and Libertarian Kasie Whitener on stage. The central dispute was whether Andrews would act independently of her party or fall in line with its left wing, a question likely to shape how voters see the contest, according to Fox News.

Graham argued that Andrews would simply join what she called the socialist Democratic Party, and she criticized Democrats in New York for reacting with cheers after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israelis. Andrews dismissed this as a rehearsed talking point, saying her rival had been instructed to link her to Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. She added that Graham treats the Senate seat as an ambassadorship for the White House instead of a job representing South Carolina, and promised to put the state first even when that means defying her own party.

Andrews also jabbed at Graham for having recently changed her name. Graham replied that Graham has always been her legal name, kept after she lost her parents as a child so she would feel close to them.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →