Pediatrician Annie Andrews challenges Lindsey Graham in South Carolina

The Hill

29-05-2025

Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and former congressional candidate, is launching a Democratic bid to challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) next year.
In her roughly three-and-a-half-minute ad, Andrews used her background as a pediatrician to slam the Trump administration for its handling of different health crises and concerns. Her ad also criticizes Graham for voting to confirm President Trump's appointees.
Her campaign ad also reminds voters of Graham's past criticism of Trump, playing several clips of Graham calling the president a 'kook' and suggesting Trump 'should go to hell.' Graham has since turned into a key Trump ally since the 2016 election.
In an interview with The Hill ahead of her launch, Andrews described Graham as being ideologically inconsistent and suggested he prioritize the business and donor community over that of everyday Americans.
She said Graham had been in the Senate for about half her life, saying that 'one of the problems with that is that he's changed his position on nearly every issue over the span of those 22 years because he doesn't believe in anything or stand for anything other than himself.'
'Lindsey Graham will take food off of kids' plates … let prices spiral out of control, gut our nation's Medicaid program, which is the largest insurer for children, just so he can cut taxes for billionaires and his donors and special interests,' she said.
Andrews spent 15 years at Medical University of South Carolina, leaving the university in 2023. The pediatrician has previously run for office before, running against Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in 2022; Andrews lost to the Republican congresswoman by 14 points that November.
Andrews noted that she does do some work in Washington, D.C., telling The Hill that she has 'a part time role at Children's National Hospital and a faculty appointment at George Washington [University], and so I spend a few days a month up there taking care of sick and injured children in our nation's capital.'
Andrews has two medical licenses in Washington, D.C. and South Carolina, the latter of which is set to expire next month. Andrews's campaign confirmed to The Hill she plans to renew her South Carolina medical license.
Andrews said if elected to the Senate one of her legislative priorities would be expanding and making permanent the child tax credit.
'I also want to work towards policies that will help working families, that will lower the costs of groceries, that will lower the cost of childcare, that we rein in the cost of health care, get prescription drug costs down,' she told The Hill. 'All of these things will benefit Americans, whether they're Republicans or Democrats in every corner of this country.'
Andrews faces an uphill battle to topple Graham. Democrats bet big on Democrat Jaime Harrison in 2020, who launched a bid to unseat Graham in 2020. Despite raking in more than $100 million over the course of his campaign, he ultimately lost to the GOP senator by 10 points that fall.
The pediatrician noted that some of the barriers present during 2020, when the world grappled with a global COVID pandemic, won't be present during the 2026 cycle.
'Jamie ran a great campaign, but it was in the middle of the COVID pandemic which really hamstrung their ability to have an effective field operation, so we won't have those limitations this time,' she said.
She added that 'we are in a very different moment in this country' in comparing 2026 and 2020, saying that 'we are seeing attacks on our health care system' and 'attacks on the social safety nets that are really the bedrock and foundation of this country,' among other concerns.
'Folks are feeling that in a way that they were not in 2020.'