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Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Annie Andrews joins us for an extended conversation on affordability and her campaign’s late momentum…
by WILL FOLKS
Six years ago, Democrats in South Carolina thought they had a chance to upset U.S. senator Lindsey Graham. This year, they know they have a shot at defeating his sister/successor, interim U.S. senator Darline Graham Nordone.
Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews – a 45-year-old mother of three from Paducah, Kentucky – is closer than any Democrat has been in decades to pulling off what would be a historic statewide victory. A modeling analysis of early voting in the Palmetto State through this Wednesday (October 22, 2026) showed Andrews leading Nordone among early voters by roughly 8% – roughly the level of support she would need to maintain in order to have a chance come election day (when Republicans hold a significant voting edge in ostensibly “ruby red” South Carolina).
“I think her odds today are 50/50,” one nervous Republican strategist told us. “Which is better than last week.”
Considering the millions of dollars in negative advertising that’s been dumped on Andrews’ head in recent weeks – and the fact the leader of the free world came to South Carolina this week to call her out – that’s impressive. Considering it’s also been 28 years since Democrats won a top-of-the-ticket race in the Palmetto State, it’s borderline unbelievable.
“The beautiful thing about where I am is I know what I stand for,” Andrews said during a visit to our studios this week. “I know where I stand. I know the difference between the truth and lies.They’re attacking me in this way because they don’t want to talk about gas prices and grocery prices and closing rural hospitals. So this is what I expected getting into this race.”
Andrews visited FITSNews on Thursday afternoon (October 22, 2026) for an extended conversation about the key issues in this race – notably soaring prices and the impact they are having on South Carolina families, small businesses and our state’s most essential industries.
“I’ve been hearing from South Carolinians who are struggling with the high cost of everything,” Andrews told me. “I was in Barnwell earlier this week, and I talked to farmers. One farmer told me it now cost her $1,900 to put gas in her tractor, and depending on what the tractor is doing that week, sometimes that only lasts three days. And then they also have record-high fertilizer prices. And I’ve talked to shrimpers in the Lowcountry who are experiencing the same thing. I’ve talked to community members in Spartanburg who are upset about their high energy costs, and they’re upset about the reason their energy costs are high, which is the giant data center being built in their backyard. And then, like so many other parents out there – like myself, who has to fill up my fridge and my pantry for my growing children – I’m tired of watching the grocery prices go up and up and up.”
Andrews placed the blame for rising prices on several things, including the deeply unpopular war in Iran – and U.S. president Donald Trump‘s tariffs. She also acknowledged “both political parties are to blame” for the unsustainable spending that has been fueling inflationary pressures for decades.
“I googled this – the day I was born, the debt was under $1 trillion, and now it’s 40 trillion,” Andrews said. “Both parties are getting it wrong. You know, I was not an inherently political person before I decided to get off the sidelines back in 2021. So I’m happy to criticize my own party, and they get this wrong. We often build these robust social programs without failing to step back and see if they’re actually getting the job done or if it’s leading to more government waste and spending that’s unnecessary. On the other side of the aisle, we see a political party that’s willing to send us into a $50 billion dollar war. Both of these spending approaches need to get under control. I have to balance my family budget – we should expect the federal government to do the same.”
Andrews’ FITSNews visit came one day after journalists at the nonprofit ProPublica detailed an aborted federal bribery probe targeting several powerful South Carolina politicians – including Lindsey Graham. That investigation was bearing significant fruit – until the Trump administration shut it down.
Her visit also came just hours after the release of a documentary entitled ‘Closetocracy,’ which featured graphic new allegations related to the late U.S. senator’s alleged sexual proclivities – including an alleged encounter with an underage sex worker.
I asked Andrews about these twin revelations – and the brutal one-two punch Graham’s legacy was taking as a result.
“I think it’s really important – I don’t want to skirt your question – but to stay focused on who my current opponent is,” Andrews said. “It’s not Senator Darline Graham’s predecessor. It is, in fact, Darline Graham, and talking about particularly the documentary is not going to do anything to you know achieve the goals that I set out for myself when I got into this race.”
Andrews continued to take the high road even when reminded of Trump’s repeated references to her as “Tranny Annie” – a curious choice of insults considering some of the alleged skeletons in Graham’s closet.
“Listen, if the president calling me names, even slurs, was going to lower our gas and diesel prices, was going to help these farmers and shrimpers that I’ve met with, was going to keep our rural hospitals open, then I’m willing to take that for the team,” she said. “He can call me whatever he wants, but you know, unfortunately, I think you and I both know, as serious people, that that’s not going to get the job done. And you resort to the name calling when you don’t have a plan, when you want to distract from your legislative record, your administration’s record, the pain that has been inflicted on South Carolinians because of decisions being made in Washington D.C. right now.”
While most of our conversation revolved around economic issues, I did put Andrews on the spot regarding her alleged flip-flops on several hot-button social topics – including her own social media receipts on the transsexual debate. I also asked her to explain how she expected to win votes in pro-gun South Carolina given her history as a gun control advocate.
To see how she answered those questions for yourself, click here…
EDITOR’S NOTE: FITSNews previously welcomed Libertarian U.S. Senate nominee Kasie Whitener to our studios. You can watch that interview here. We have on three separate occasions asked Nordone to appear, but have yet to receive a response from her campaign.
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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