Democrat Annie Andrews Wins South Carolina Senate Seat, First Democratic Win Since 1998

At an election watch party in Charleston on Tuesday night, a group of medical students gathered to celebrate a result few had expected. Their classmates' school is also the school of Annie Andrews, who had just become the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from South Carolina since 1998, according to the Associated Press. "I think we just made some history," Andrews said once the results came in.

The defeated candidate was Darline Graham, the Republican incumbent, and the circumstances of her candidacy were unusual. Her older brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, died suddenly in July. Darline Graham was appointed to serve out the rest of his term, then won a special primary runoff for the Republican nomination with the endorsement of President Donald Trump. The Associated Press called the general election for Andrews in a state long regarded as a solid Republican stronghold, and the result is a major upset for the party.

Graham's campaign had trouble from within her own coalition. Many voters, Republicans among them, considered her unqualified, and she struggled to unite conservatives behind her. In a primary debate she said she was "not that informed on national security" and that "national security is not my thing." In the last month of the race, Trump appeared with her several times, an unusual use of presidential time in a state Republicans normally win comfortably.

Money was another measure of the gap. Federal Election Commission filings show Andrews outraised Graham by more than $22 million, mostly through grassroots donations. She had pledged to accept no money from corporate political action committees. Her platform centered on lowering costs for working families, expanding affordable healthcare, protecting reproductive rights, and opposing endless wars.

Andrews said Graham called her on election night to congratulate her, and that she thanked her for it. In her victory speech she leaned on the story of how she got there. "This Senate seat doesn't belong to one family, one party, or to Washington, DC. It belongs to you and it always will," she said. She added: "Nobody in Washington recruited me to run. Nobody handed me a seat in the United States Senate. And nobody wrote me a script. I owe no one in Washington anything."

At the watch party, the reaction was personal. The medical students there also volunteer at a free clinic in Mount Pleasant that serves uninsured patients. "Having a scientist in that space means a lot to us," one of them, Daniel Newlands, told Al Jazeera. Many in the crowd invoked the state motto on its seal, "While I breathe, I hope," as the results arrived.

Toni Reale, 48, a mother and small business owner, teared up at the outcome. She told Al Jazeera that for Andrews to win, people had to depart from their usual votes, which she took as a sign that her community had weighed its options and put South Carolina first. Holly Griffin, 52, a healthcare worker, said the result shows the state has changed.

Lela Ali, a regional voting advisor in the South, told Al Jazeera the win and gains elsewhere in the region could give people across the South "a renewed sense of possibility." Whether Tuesday reflects a broader shift in Southern politics, or the particular circumstances of this race, a sudden death, an appointed candidate and a large fundraising gap, is the question analysts will now be weighing.