Darline Graham leads Annie Andrews by 1% in South Carolina Senate poll
Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) and Democrat Annie Andrews are locked in a near tie days before South Carolina voters pick their next senator, a new poll finds. Graham holds a one-point edge over Andrews in the Senate race, with about 8 percent of likely voters still undecided, according to the survey.
The Trafalgar Group poll, a right-leaning firm, surveyed 1,087 likely South Carolina voters from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25. It carries a margin of error of roughly 2.9 percentage points.
Graham leads Andrews 41 percent to 40 percent among those surveyed. About 6 percent said they would back another candidate.
An InsiderAdvantage poll released earlier in September had Graham ahead by two points. A mid-August Impact Research survey, paid for by Andrews’s campaign, found the two tied.
Graham was tapped by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to fill the Senate seat held by her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). President Trump endorsed her ahead of the GOP primary.
Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) in a tense runoff. Days before that race, Trump traveled to South Carolina to rally voters for Graham.
Andrews, a pediatrician, has hit Graham over her support for Trump. She criticized Graham’s vote this week against an Iran war powers resolution as energy costs tied to the conflict have climbed.
Andrews is pitching herself as a moderate. She rejected the label “Medicare for All” in an August interview on NewsNation, a sister network of The Hill.
“I believe with every cell in my body that healthcare is a human right,” Andrews told “On Balance” host Leland Vittert. “But I’m also a realist, and I understand where we are politically in this country right now.”
South Carolina’s Senate seat has not been held by a Democrat in more than 20 years. A win would hand the party a rare foothold in the state.
The Senate race sits among several competitive contests nationwide as parties jostle for control of the upper chamber.
