Meet the Candidates

US Senate

🚧Another Special🚧
Primary Election

US Senators serve six-year terms. Our Democratic candidate is Annie Andrews, who won her Primary with 61.5% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly on July 11, was up for re-election in 2026. He had cleared the Primary bar with 57% of the vote and also avoided a runoff.

While Governor McMaster will appoint a replacement for Graham in the Senate to serve out the term until next January, SC election law requires a Special Primary to replace him on the November ballot. Details below.

Three Libertarians or independents have filed, and will all be on the ballot in November as they have no primary election.

Republican Special Primary

to replace Lindsey Graham
on the November Ballot

Candidate filing: July 21-28
Special Primary: August 11
Runoff (if needed): August 25

Any registered voter in South Carolina can vote in this Primary.

South Carolina does not register voters by party, so all primaries are open. When you vote in a Primary, you choose a party ballot at the polling place check-in desk just before you head to the voting booth.

That choice does obligate you to vote only in that party’s immediate runoff, if there is one. Beyond that, you are essentially ‘independent’ again. So your choice in last June’s Primary does not affect this Special Primary.

Republicans will complain, and some have been lobbying for a closed Primary system in SC. It’s been an ‘advisory’ question on Republican Primary ballots for the last few election cycles, but as of now the state has open Primaries, and this will be one of them.

So… strategy? There will be no competing Democratic primary… we have our candidate! No reason for Democrats not to vote in this Special Primary… except maybe noting that you will put yourself into a public database and receive Republican campaign material for the rest of your life. But the fact is a strong vote from Democrats could certainly affect who is nominated in this primary. Watch the news and pundits on this.

Who can vote? (and why Democrats should care)

Early voting

SC voting laws cover this contingency. For this type of election, they call for two weeks of early voting, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.. So that would be

Special Primary Early Voting: Monday, July 27 – Friday, Aug. 7, weekdays only, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m..

If a runoff is needed (and, while Graham avoided a runoff, it’s a little more likely among the pack that should file for this Special Primary), it would be just three days of early voting, Wednesday through Friday before the runoff

Special Primary Runoff Early Voting (if needed): Wednesday–Friday, Aug. 19–21, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m..

Locations will be announced no later than 14 days before early voting starts, or July 13.

Our Democratic Candidate

Dr. Annie Andrews

Candidate for US Senate

PRIMARY WINNER ☑

Dr. Annie Andrews avoided a runoff with a strong 61.5% of the Primary vote. Here’s her speech at the SCDP Convention on May 31, 2025. In June, she spoke at the YCDP Forward Together event, and again at the YCDP County Convention on March 14, 2026.

Primary opponents

Brandon Brown

Primary Candidate for US Senate

Brandon Brown came in second with 30% of the Primary vote. He has served as Vice President at three HBCUs, Deputy Tax Commissioner for Chatham County, and as a state political director and senior advisor for Vice President Joe Biden. He gave this speech at the 2026 YCDP County Convention on March 14.