COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) — South Carolina voters now know the four candidates who will compete in November for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.
The field was finalized after Tuesday’s Republican runoff, setting up a general election contest featuring Republican incumbent Sen. Darline Graham, Democrat Annie Andrews, Libertarian Kasie Whitener and Constitution Party candidate Mark Hackett.
The race is notable because none of the four candidates has previously won statewide office or served in the South Carolina General Assembly, a traditional stepping stone to higher office in the state.
The seat has changed hands only a handful of times in recent decades. Since the 1950s, it has been held by Strom Thurmond, Lindsey Graham and Darline Graham, who was appointed to the position.
One of the four candidates will earn a full term in November.
Graham, the Republican nominee and incumbent, has closely aligned herself with President Donald Trump and says her campaign is focused on addressing affordability concerns and defending conservative values.
“Liberals believe if they can defeat conservatives in South Carolina, then they can defeat us anywhere. Once again they’re coming for us and the South Carolina values we hold dear,” Graham said.
Andrews, a Lowcountry pediatrician and the Democratic nominee, is seeking to become the first South Carolina Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since Fritz Hollings. Hollings retired in 2005 after serving nearly four decades in the Senate.
During a recent interview, Andrews argued that voters are looking for leaders willing to work across political divides.
“One of the lessons I’ve learned is the far left can keep talking to each other, the far right can keep talking to each other, but we’re never going to get anything done unless we start talking to each other in the center, and that’s what I intend to do,” Andrews said.
Whitener, the Libertarian nominee, says voters are frustrated with the two-party system and wants to offer an alternative focused on economic opportunity and government reform.
“That’s what we’re trying to offer, a vision of opportunity, leadership, focus on entrepreneurship and reform at that high federal level,” Whitener said.
We also reached out to Hackett, the Constitution Party nominee, for comment. He did not respond.
The winner of the Nov. 3 election will represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate for the next six years.
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