Latest news with #AnnieAndrews
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. Lindsey Graham gets a 2026 challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews, who ran against Nancy Mace
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Dr. Annie Andrews, the South Carolina Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022, says she's running against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2026, challenging the four-term incumbent in part due to what she characterized as his waffling positions over the course of his political career. 'He's changed his position on nearly every issue over that time and that's because, in my view, he doesn't stand for anything or believe in anything other than what it takes to get reelected,' Andrews, a pediatrician in Charleston, told The Associated Press before a campaign rollout Thursday. In her launch video, Andrews says it's 'embarrassing' to see how politicians like Graham — at the moment one of President Donald Trump's top Senate allies — have swung from criticizing Trump to working to gain his favor. The video features archival video of Graham bemoaning critics who called Trump a 'kook' and then, a year earlier, using the same term to describe his former GOP primary foe in the 2016 presidential contest. Andrews also levies criticism at Graham for voting to confirm Trump's Cabinet picks and for his relationship with Elon Musk, describing 'an unelected billionaire ... taking a chainsaw to Social Security, Medicare and veterans' healthcare.' She calls Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'a guy who can't even organize a text thread,' a reference to the recent Signal chat scandal in which war plans were discussed. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double-digit margins. When he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin. That contest turned into South Carolina's most expensive ever, with both candidates posting record fundraising that surpassed $200 million total and continued to grow in the race's closing days. Harrison, who went on to chair the Democratic National Committee, became the first U.S. Senate candidate to amass a war chest of more than $100 million over the course of the race. Andrews was the Democratic nominee who unsuccessfully sought to unseat Mace in 2022, losing to the Republican by 14 percentage points. South Carolina's 1st District, which spans the state's southern coast, is the only one to have flipped from red to blue in decades, when Joe Cunningham won it for Democrats for a single term in the 2018 election. Mace won it in 2020 and has been reelected twice, although in 2026 she is eyeing a race for governor. In the years since her House run, Andrews stepped away from her practice at the Medical University of South Carolina and founded a political organization focused on issues related to children, including climate change, gun violence and childhood poverty. According to federal filings, an affiliated political action committee, Their Future PAC, gave $7,000 to a handful of candidates in the 2024 cycle and had about $5,000 on hand at the end of 2024. Asked about Democrats' lackluster statewide record in the state, Andrews said she felt Harrison's effort was 'hamstrung' by necessary precautions in place during the pandemic. Now, she said, voters feel strained under the effects of the Trump administration's 'chaotic' policies. "Lindsey Graham has had 22 years to make things better for folks here in South Carolina, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find many voters who could articulate in what way Lindsey has made their life better," Andrews said. Graham, seeking his fifth Senate term, kicked off his reelection campaign in February, announcing that Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Tim Scott would chair his effort. Scott, the state's junior senator, is serving as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the chamber's campaign arm. At least one Republican has announced a primary challenge to Graham. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at
Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Sen. Lindsey Graham gets a 2026 challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews, who ran against Nancy Mace
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dr. Annie Andrews, the South Carolina Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022, says she's running against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2026, challenging the four-term incumbent in part due to what she characterized as his waffling positions over the course of his political career.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Sen. Lindsey Graham gets a 2026 challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews, who ran against Nancy Mace
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Dr. Annie Andrews, the South Carolina Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022, says she's running against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2026, challenging the four-term incumbent in part due to what she characterized as his waffling positions over the course of his political career. 'He's changed his position on nearly every issue over that time and that's because, in my view, he doesn't stand for anything or believe in anything other than what it takes to get reelected,' Andrews, a pediatrician in Charleston, told The Associated Press before a campaign rollout Thursday. In her launch video, Andrews says it's 'embarrassing' to see how politicians like Graham — at the moment one of President Donald Trump's top Senate allies — have swung from criticizing Trump to working to gain his favor. The video features archival video of Graham bemoaning critics who called Trump a 'kook' and then, a year earlier, using the same term to describe his former GOP primary foe in the 2016 presidential contest. Andrews also levies criticism at Graham for voting to confirm Trump's Cabinet picks and for his relationship with Elon Musk, describing 'an unelected billionaire ... taking a chainsaw to Social Security, Medicare and veterans' healthcare.' She calls Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'a guy who can't even organize a text thread,' a reference to the recent Signal chat scandal in which war plans were discussed. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double-digit margins. When he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin. That contest turned into South Carolina's most expensive ever, with both candidates posting record fundraising that surpassed $200 million total and continued to grow in the race's closing days. Harrison, who went on to chair the Democratic National Committee, became the first U.S. Senate candidate to amass a war chest of more than $100 million over the course of the race. Andrews was the Democratic nominee who unsuccessfully sought to unseat Mace in 2022, losing to the Republican by 14 percentage points. South Carolina's 1st District, which spans the state's southern coast, is the only one to have flipped from red to blue in decades, when Joe Cunningham won it for Democrats for a single term in the 2018 election. Mace won it in 2020 and has been reelected twice, although in 2026 she is eyeing a race for governor. In the years since her House run, Andrews stepped away from her practice at the Medical University of South Carolina and founded a political organization focused on issues related to children, including climate change, gun violence and childhood poverty. According to federal filings, an affiliated political action committee, Their Future PAC, gave $7,000 to a handful of candidates in the 2024 cycle and had about $5,000 on hand at the end of 2024. Asked about Democrats' lackluster statewide record in the state, Andrews said she felt Harrison's effort was 'hamstrung' by necessary precautions in place during the pandemic. Now, she said, voters feel strained under the effects of the Trump administration's 'chaotic' policies. 'Lindsey Graham has had 22 years to make things better for folks here in South Carolina, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find many voters who could articulate in what way Lindsey has made their life better,' Andrews said. Graham, seeking his fifth Senate term, kicked off his reelection campaign in February, announcing that Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Tim Scott would chair his effort. Scott, the state's junior senator, is serving as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the chamber's campaign arm. At least one Republican has announced a primary challenge to Graham. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A smart start everyone can do to reduce risk of firearm deaths in South Carolina
Gun violence is not a political issue. It's an American crisis, and one in Beaufort County, which had its most homicides in at least 30 years in 2023. Guns contributed to 17 of these 20 deaths. There's a lot that people can do to address the problem — without waiting for the state Legislature or Congress to do something about it, or for mental health care to catch up, or for society as a whole to mend its evil ways. That's the message and the hope of a group of local people worried about America's children and grandchildren, and their own. Dr. Annie Andrews of Mount Pleasant calls gun violence 'a preventable public health crisis.' She has been trying to call attention to it since her unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island, in 2022. The first step, Andrews says, is to acknowledge the problem. Then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy did just that last year when his office identified firearm violence for the first time as a national public health crisis. Titled 'Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America,' his advisory is sobering. Firearm-related injuries have sharply risen to be the leading cause of death for youth ages 1-19, surpassing deaths from motor vehicle wrecks, which are decreasing. Nearly 40% of those firearm deaths among adolescents are suicides. That's surprising to me, but not to doctors. Editor's note: If you or someone you know needs help, please text or dial 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has seen so much of it that it has set a new goal to reduce gun violence by 30% by 2030. If health experts recognize the problem, so can we. Strategies are available within each household to reduce the deaths. First is to reduce firearm access. 'It is on us, as adults, to do that,' Andrews said to a Saturday-morning gathering of about 50 people at First Presbyterian Church on Hilton Head Island. In South Carolina and elsewhere, children are being taught what to do if they see a gun: Don't touch it, walk away, tell an adult. That's good, but it won't solve the problem. It is up to adults to store their firearms safely: Locked up, unloaded, and kept separate from ammunition. A national model that can be adopted by schools and others is called 'Be SMART.' SMART is an acronym for tactics everyone can start using now to reduce firearm deaths among children. It's straightforward: S: Secure all firearms in your home and vehicles. M: Model responsible behavior around firearms. This includes talking about gun safety. Andrews said great models to follow are hunters, who represent the pinnacle of responsible gun ownership. A: Ask about the presence of unsecured firearms in other homes before letting your children go there. Normalize the question, Andrews said. Parents are used to doing things like safely storing poisons and lowering the temperature on hot water heaters when young children are present. With the prevalence of firearms, it should be normal to ask about firearm safety before sleepovers or play dates, she said. R: Recognize the role of firearms in suicide. If access to a loaded gun is not readily available, many lives will be saved, and adults can do more to reduce impulsive moves leading to death. T: Tell. Nearly 1,500 American children are killed by guns each year. Talk about it. Do what you can to prevent it. So many families have lost children to firearm deaths in our community and around the nation that a number of organizations exist to address the issue. They include Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which has a Lowcountry chapter. Activism and attempting to influence public policy are always options, but it starts at home. Andrews cited a study that found households with locked firearms and separate locked ammunition have a 78% lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and 85% lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries. Doing that would be a smart start. David Lauderdale may be reached at lauderdalecolumn@ .
