Lone debate for South Carolina Senate gets testy: 5 takeaways

Sen. Darline Graham (R) and pediatrician Annie Andrews (D) faced off in their one and only debate on Sunday in the South Carolina Senate race, which quickly became testy as Graham sought to tie the physician to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) while Andrews suggested the GOP senator wouldn’t be able to stand up to the White House.

Graham, Andrews and libertarian Kasie Whitener, a radio host and professor, participated in a debate hosted by South Carolina ETV and Public Radio (SCETV) in Columbia, S.C.

Graham suggested Andrews was in favor of progressive policies like Medicare for All and called her a “radical liberal.”

Meanwhile, Andrews pointed to Graham’s past primary debate gaffe on Taiwan as reason why the GOP senator was not up to the task of a full six-year term and dinged her for dropping “Nordone” from her last name.

Graham is seen as the favorite to win in November, with Decision Desk HQ forecasting a 70 percent probability that the GOP senator wins next month.

Here are 5 takeaways from the South Carolina Senate’s lone debate:

Graham, Andrews take swipes at each other

Graham and Andrews set the tone for the debate early, taking swipes at each other on policy issues and even their own personal names.

“I’ve been in the Senate for three months now. I’ve already co-sponsored several bills that protect farmers, that protect the American taxpayer,” the GOP senator said just minutes into the debate. “My Democratic opponent is pretending to be someone she is not. She’s the most radical liberal that’s ever run for state office in South Carolina.”

Graham also suggested that Andrews, a pediatrician, supported “government-run health care for all.”

“We are already $40 trillion in national debt. That will cost trillions of dollars,” Graham continued. “Our national debt will be through the roof. She will bankrupt our country with government-run healthcare for all.”

The Senate Democratic candidate called Medicare for All in August “a policy from a few decades ago,” saying she was in favor of creating a public option for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Meanwhile, Andrews dinged Graham for dropping “Nordone” from her name after joining the Senate, insinuating that she was trying to ride on the tailcoats of her late brother Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R) name.

“I told you my opponent was going to call me a socialist, and there she’s done it again. She’s been told to come out here and call me Bernie, Ocasio, Mamdani. That’s what’s in her script,” Andrews said. “But the truth is, my name is Annie Andrews, and there shouldn’t be any confusion about that because, unlike my opponent, I haven’t changed my name recently.”

Graham slammed Andrews over the statement, saying the name “Graham” appears in all of her signed documents and said she kept the name to feel close to her parents who died when she was young.

The Democratic pediatrician also suggested Graham wouldn’t be able to stand up to the president or White House while in the upper chamber.

“The job is to represent South Carolina. She considers the job to be to read their scripts and do their bidding, and we can do better,” Andrews said.

Andrews referenced a gaffe the GOP senator made during her primary runoff debate against Rep. Ralph Norman (R) in which she said that national security “is not my thing,” suggesting that the GOP senator lacked the experience needed to do the job.

“My opponent is the only one on this stage who had the opportunity to vote to end the war, but three times in a row she voted to continue it,” Andrews said at one point in response to a question about the war with Iran. “And several days after one of those votes, she had the audacity to walk out onto this stage and admit that national security isn’t really her thing. South Carolina, if your surgeon said that appendectomies aren’t really his thing, would you still hand him a scalpel? No.”

During a debate between Graham and Norman in August, the GOP senator was asked a national security question pertaining to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

“I’m just going to be honest here. … I’m not that informed on national security,” Graham said, adding later, “but I do support the military.”

Graham defended herself afterward, saying that “I’m not a politician” and that voters care more about domestic issues than those abroad. The GOP senator defended herself again on the debate stage, saying that constituents respected that she was honest about what she did and did not know.

“Your thing apparently is not being honest with the people of South Carolina,” Graham shot back. “At least I’m honest. If I don’t know something, I am glad to say it, and I’ll say it again tonight. But … you are deceiving the people of South Carolina.”

Andrews presses Graham to commit to more debates

The pediatrician pressed Graham twice to commit to another debate between the pair, arguing that voters should hear from the candidates again before the election, which is three weeks away.

“There’s a lot to talk about in this U.S. Senate race, and unfortunately, my opponent has only agreed to this one 60-minute debate. I’ve agreed to three additional debates. We have a lot to talk about. That is very clear,” Andrews said. “So I want to ask Senator Graham this evening if she’ll commit to standing on another debate stage with me at least two more times before Nov. 3?”

Graham brushed off the request after she was pressed a second time.

“I’ve had a job representing the people of South Carolina in Washington, D.C., so I think it’s more important for me to hear from voters than to stand with you on this debate stage,” Graham said.

Graham sidesteps question on Trump deal with Russia on diesel

The GOP senator sidestepped a question about whether she supported a recent deal the president made with Russia on diesel. Trump said on Friday that Russia had agreed to supply the U.S. and the global marketplace with 300,000 tons of diesel “immediately.”

The move marked a reverse on legislation the president had signed into law in September, which was named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), that placed as much as 100-percent tariffs on Russia’s top energy buyers.

The president fielded blowback from his deal with Russia from both parties.

“I think that everybody wants the war in Ukraine to end. We will all be safer when the war in Ukraine ends,” Graham said during the debate, saying she was “proud” to help pass the legislation that enacted stricter sanctions.

“It gives the president tools that he can use if he so chooses to end the war through economic sanctions. So that’s up to him as to whether or not he wants to use it or whether he wants to use something else,” she said. “But I think the purpose of it is to bring down the gas prices and ultimately end the war. And when the war ends, gas prices will fall.”

The GOP senator sought to tie Andrews to the far-left multiple times during the debate as Republicans have largely looked to make the midterms a referendum on democratic socialists and the progressive faction of the party.

“Annie Andrews will not stand up to the Socialist Democratic Party. She’s only going to join them,” Graham said at one point, criticizing the response from some progressive Democrats to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack against Israel.

Andrews accused Graham of using the name-calling as a distraction.

“My opponent is going to stand up here tonight and call me a socialist because that’s what her script says,” Andrews said, “and also because she doesn’t want to talk to you about your high gas prices, grocery prices or your closing rural hospital.”