Other names currently being discussed are Russell Fry, who since 2023 has served as US representative for South Carolina’s 7th congressional district, 5th congressional district Representative (since 2017) Ralph Norman, and Second district Rep Joe Wilson, who premptively announced via X that while speaking with Trump on Sunday, “I assured him my goal is to remain in the House to keep his two-vote majority for the American people!!!” As of publication time, none of these possibilities have official announced a campaign.
South Carolina Democrats chose Dr. Annie Andrews to run against Lindsey Graham in June
While the Republicans hustle to determine a candidate, Democrats already have one in place. Annie Andrews prevailed in her state’s Democratic primary against local business owner Brandon Brown and self-described “logistics professional” Kyle Freeman, and was chosen as the South Carolina’s Democratic nominee on June 9, 2026.
Who is Dr. Annie Andrews?
The Kentucky-born doctor grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. After completing her medical training at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, she moved to Mount Pleasant, SC, to work as a pediatric hospitalist the Medical University of South Carolina, where she also completed a master’s degree in clinical research.
According to an alumni profile on the website for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where Andrews completed her residency, the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was a turning point for the mother of three. After years working with advocacy groups, she announced her first political campaign in 2021, running as the Democratic candidate in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
Nancy Mace attacked Annie Andrews in 2022
In her initial campaign, Andrews was up against incumbent Nancy Mace, who secured her seat in the 2020 election during a campaign in which she argued that her opponent, incumbent Democrat Joe Cunningham, was unfit to remain in office due to his support of equality for transgender people. Mace returned to that platform in her battle with Andrews, announcing on X that “Annie Andrews supports ‘gender affirming therapy’ and surgery on young kids. That’s child abuse!”
“I knew politics would be ugly but I never thought I’d see the day when my own congresswoman would accuse me — a pediatrician for over a decade — of ‘child abuse,'” Andrews said in response.
“I do not support gender affirming surgery for anyone under 18 — nor does my hospital perform those procedures. What I support is evidenced-based medical care, with parental consent, for teens struggling with gender identity issues,” she continued.
Mace prevailed in the election with 56 percent of South Carolina’s vote to Andrews’s 42.
Political attacks against Annie Andrews cost her her job
Citing Mace’s allegations, Andrews announced in September, 2022 that she was forced to take an unpaid leave from MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital “in order to protect myself and my colleagues.”
“These types of QAnon style attacks have led to threats of violence against doctors…Congresswoman Mace’s political games have real life consequences. And while I refuse to back down to these abhorrent attacks and her shameful election strategy, I have been forced to take necessary precautions to protect me and my family.”
