Annie Andrews projected to flip South Carolina Senate seat

Democrat Annie Andrews was projected to defeat Republican Darline Graham in South Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, flipping a seat Republicans had held for decades and delivering a rare statewide victory for Democrats in the state. Multiple election desks called the race for Andrews on Election Day, November 3, but the reports available Wednesday did not include a certified final tally. Preliminary figures put Andrews at about 50.9% of the vote and Graham at 47%. A later partial count, with 87% of votes tallied, showed Andrews at 51.0% and Graham at 46.9%. The figures are early snapshots, not final certified results. Andrews, a pediatrician, is the first Democrat projected to win a South Carolina Senate seat since Fritz Hollings in 1998. The seat had been held by Lindsey Graham, who died in July. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster appointed his sister, Darline Graham, to serve the remainder of his term. She later won the Republican nomination after a runoff, with President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Trump urged Graham to seek a full six-year term and campaigned for her in South Carolina during the closing weeks. The race had been considered safely Republican earlier in the cycle, but...