On Tuesday evening, a week before Election Day, Maggie O’Neal took her husband and two daughters—six and 10 years old—to see Dr. Annie Andrews, the pediatrician trying to flip a Senate seat in deep-red South Carolina, speak in Greenville.
asserted
Andrews → take → Greenville
O’Neal, who grew up in a Republican household but votes Democrat, was “very early on the Dr. Annie bandwagon.”
asserted
who → grow → bandwagon
For about a decade, she worked as a hospice social worker; her father is a retired physician and her husband a practicing doctor.
asserted
husband → work → worker
In Andrews, she recognized the dedication to years of study—in the Democratic challenger’s case at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine—and the commitment to evidence-based research.
asserted
she → recognize → research
“The strongest, most amazing physicians I’ve ever met and watched go through medical training are women,” O’Neal, 39, said.
asserted
O’Neal → meet → training
“The amount of work they have to do to succeed and thrive, and what they have to endure says a lot about her.”
asserted
they → have → her
At the campaign event, O’Neal’s oldest daughter carried a sign that read, “If I could vote, I’d vote for Dr. Annie.”
uncertain
I → carry → Annie
“She’s very inspiring,” said O’Neal, a Colombian-born adoptee who became a naturalized citizen as a child.
asserted
who → ’ → child
Her parents, Republicans who have grown disenchanted with the direction of the party under President Donald Trump, also support Andrews.
asserted
who → grow → Andrews
Some of her friends are picking Republican candidates all the way down the ballot—except for the Senate.
asserted
Some → pick → Senate
“She has a really good head on her shoulders for straddling the line of both parties,” O’Neal continued, “which I think is what South Carolina needs right now.”
asserted
Carolina → have → what
Ahead of a pivotal election night, Andrews is in an unexpectedly tight contest against Darline Graham, a political novice who inherited the seat following the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, in July and now hopes to serve a full six-year term.
asserted
who → inherit → term
The Republican candidate’s credentials—her family name and an endorsement from President Donald Trump—have voters in the Palmetto State questioning if she’s not just a “nepo senator,” especially when contrasted to Andrews’ hard-earned medical bona fides and political campaign history.
asserted
she → have → fides
The result, a race that should be a safe GOP hold but Fox News has moved to a toss-up, has Republicans worried.
asserted
Republicans → move → up
In the two weeks leading up to the election, Trump rallied twice in the state he carried by almost 18 points in 2024, and the GOP top Senate PAC has pledged $5 million to prop up Graham and prevent a Democratic pickup that would be one of the biggest upsets in the country.
asserted
that → lead → country
Even the interim senator herself, who doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy campaigning, acknowledged feeling a “little nervous” about the polls.
asserted
who → seem → polls
“Democrats haven’t had much to get excited about in state politics for a long time,” said Furman University professor Danielle Vinson.
asserted
Vinson → have → time
The last time a Democrat won a Senate seat in South Carolina was in 1998, and no Democratic candidate has come within nine points of a victory this century.
asserted
candidate → win → victory
Vinson was initially skeptical of the polls showing a competitive race.
asserted
Vinson → show → race
The most recent New York Times/Siena poll had both candidates effectively tied, with Graham leading by less than one percentage point.
asserted
Graham → have → point
In 2020, Democrats had their hopes crushed when Jaime Harrison, former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, appeared within the margin of error, but ended up losing to Lindsey Graham by 10 points.
asserted
Harrison → have → points
This year, Harrison has said, the “stars are aligning” for Democrats in the state and a strong Black voter turnout could help Andrews’ chances.
uncertain
turnout → say → chances
Trump’s multiple stops in South Carolina to try and boost one of his handpicked candidates have also persuaded Vinson that this time it might be different.
uncertain
it → try → Vinson
“That suggests to me that their own internal polling is raising questions and concerns because there’s no really good reason that the president should have to come to South Carolina for a Senate race,” she said.
uncertain
she → suggest → race
That, and the fact that Andrews’ yard signs have cropped up in reliably conservative areas of Greenville, are an indication to her that some Republican voters simply “are not comfortable” voting for Graham, whose previous professional stint was as the head of South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind.
asserted
stint → crop → Blind
If Andrews wins, Vinson said, “Democrats will be bouncing from the ceilings.”
asserted
Democrats → win → ceilings
But even if she just comes close enough to pulling it off, “it will be a reminder that if you want to see change, you have to show up.”
asserted
you → come → change
A near-win could also re-energize the party looking ahead, with South Carolina holding the first 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
uncertain
Carolina → re → primary
A Kentucky-born mother of three, Andrews worked as a pediatric hospitalist at the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital in Charleston for 14 years, treating kids with cancer and gunshot wounds.
asserted
Andrews → bear → cancer
After the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida, Andrews joined the Moms Demand Action movement that fights for gun safety laws and later became an adviser for a gun violence prevention organization.
asserted
that → join → organization
In 2022, she ran for Congress to unseat Rep. Nancy Mace, ultimately trailing her by 14 points.
asserted
she → run → points
Andrews then launched a political group advocating for children.
asserted
Andrews → launch → children
“That’s what drove me off the sidelines,” she said in a conversation with Harrison in October.
asserted
she → ’ → October
“It’s witnessing these patterns of policy failures showing up in our hospital exam rooms and wanting to do something about it.”
asserted
patterns → witness → it
Now, momentum appears to be on Andrews’ side.
asserted
momentum → appear → side
On Friday, the Senate Majority PAC to elect Democrats released the first ad in a $750,000, 11th-hour push to get her over the finish line, painting Graham as “an empty suit for special interests.”
asserted
PAC → elect → interests
Andrews’ slim path to a one-time unthinkable victory may hinge on that message resonating with Republican and independent voters who would rather not be force-fed a candidate who inspires little confidence.
uncertain
who → hinge → confidence
“We were led to believe that she was just a placeholder for that seat and South Carolinians would have the opportunity to vote for whomever they thought would be the best,” said George Culpepper Jr., who identifies as a conservative Republican and picked US Rep. Ralph Norman in the primary.
asserted
who → lead → primary
“We were kind of caught off guard because a seat shouldn’t just be given to someone.”
asserted
seat → catch → someone
“When a candidate is shoved down our throats, I’m sorry, but our minds are independent here in South Carolina,” he added.
asserted
he → shove → Carolina
…and 46 more, not listed.
The Aporia
