Darline Graham

For the first time, South Carolina can choose between three female candidates for a U.S. Senate seat this November.

Now that interim Sen. Darline Graham has secured the Republican nomination for November's Senate race, she will face off with Dr. Annie Andrews of the Democratic party and Libertarian candidate Kasie Whitener. Mark Hackett, a candidate running for the Constitution party, will also appear on the ballot this November.

Graham was appointed to the seat by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster after the sudden death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, in July. This made her the first woman to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate, though she is far from the first woman to run for the office.

The last woman to earn a major party nomination in a U.S. Senate general election in South Carolina, before Graham and Andrews, was Democrat Krystle Matthews in 2022. She ultimately fell to Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who won the seat.

Graham is the first woman to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in South Carolina.

Graham arrived at a Columbia watch party last night, just half an hour after the results came in. The unofficial results showed Graham snagging 52 percent of yesterday's vote at the time the race was called, with Rep. Ralph Norman taking 48 percent. The results remain unofficial until certified by election officials.

"I continue to miss Lindsey everyday ... but I know he's looking down right now very proud," she said to a crowd of supporters.

Graham earned the endorsements of President Donald Trump, who made a campaign stop on her behalf in the Grand Strand last Friday, Rep. Russell Fry, and McMaster. Graham is running on a platform of lowering costs and "putting South Carolina families first."

Andrews, a pediatrician from Charleston, reacted to the news in a press release last night.

"Tonight, Republicans nominated a candidate who was appointed to this seat because of her last name and elevated by Donald Trump's endorsement and political machine," she said. "But no appointment, endorsement, or family connection entitles anyone to six years in the United States Senate...This seat belongs to the people of South Carolina."

Andrews said in an interview that, while she knows this is an "uphill battle," her team has data showing a tied race, crediting voter fatigue with political polarization.

"They're coming over to our campaign because they hear a new message." Andrews said. "They hear a sense of hope and optimism about what is possible in the future."

Andrews isrunning on key issues such as healthcare, child welfare, and economic issues.

Libertarian candidate Whitener is prioritizing eliminating the national debt in her campaign. She doesn't believe this is something the Democratic, nor Republican party, are focused on accomplishing. Whitener is a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina.

If any of the three female candidates wins the seat, that will make them the first voter-elected woman to hold a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina.