Republican Senator Darline Graham and Democratic challenger Annie Andrews debated Sunday night in Columbia, South Carolina, covering topics such as President Trump’s policies, Iran, AI data centers, and rising costs of gas and goods. The debate highlighted their contrasting views on issues like Social Security reform and support for the president, with Andrews criticizing Graham for being too aligned with Washington insiders and Graham accusing Andrews of aligning with radical left-wing politics. Both candidates are vying to become South Carolina’s first female senator in a race that has tightened as Democrats see an opportunity to unseat Graham, who was appointed after her brother Lindsey Graham's death.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
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Leaning score withheld for article 73060: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-12
Republican Sen. Darline Graham of South Carolina and Democratic challenger Annie Andrews clashed Sunday night in their first and perhaps only debate of the general election, tangling over President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” the high costs of gas and goods, the Iran war and AI data centers.
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Graham → clash → gas
South Carolina is a ruby-red state where Trump remains popular among Republican voters.
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Trump → remain → voters
But the race has tightened in the closing stretch of the campaign, and Democrats believe they have a shot at knocking off Graham, who was appointed to fill her brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat after his sudden death in July.
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who → tighten → July
The top Senate Republican super PAC has pledged to spend $5 million to shore up Graham’s campaign.
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PAC → pledge → campaign
At the start of the debate, hosted in Columbia by South Carolina ETV, Darline Graham noted that Sunday night marked exactly three months since her brother unexpectedly died at age 71.
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brother → host → age
Andrews, a pediatrician, sought to portray Graham, who previously led a state agency, as an inexperienced empty suit who refuses to stand up to Trump or his unpopular policies.
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who → seek → Trump
She mocked Graham as “the White House’s ambassador to South Carolina.”
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She → mock → Carolina
Graham attacked Andrews as the “most radical liberal” to run in South Carolina and as sympathetic to the Democratic Socialist Party.
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Graham → attack → Party
“Annie Andrews will not stand up to the Socialist Democratic Party; she’s only going to join them,” Graham said — a characterization Andrews rejected.
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Andrews → stand → them
Graham has “been told to come out here and call me Bernie, Ocasio, Mamdani — that’s what’s in her script.
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what → tell → script
But the truth is my name is Annie Andrews, and there shouldn’t be any confusion about that,” Andrews said.
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Andrews → say → that
“The truth is I support the Second Amendment, I believe we need a secure border, and we need to deport illegal immigrants who break the law. ...
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who → support → law
The real difference between me and Sen. Graham is that I will stand up to my own party, and I will always put South Carolina first.”
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I → stand → Carolina
Graham and Andrews are running for a full six-year Senate term; the winner will make history as the first female senator elected from South Carolina.
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winner → run → Carolina
The debate also featured Libertarian Kasie Whitener.
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debate → feature → Whitener
Graham and Andrews tussled over issue after issue.
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Graham → tussle → issue
As the country faces Social Security insolvency, Andrews said she would raise caps to make wealthier people pay more but would not hike the retirement age.
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people → face → age
She added that Republicans like Graham want to privatize Social Security so “Washington insiders” can profit.
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insiders → add → Security
“Unfortunately, my opponent is in the race to do what Washington insiders tell her,” she said.
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she → tell → her
Graham shot back that she understands what people in her state are facing.
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people → shoot → state
When her parents died at a young age, Social Security benefits helped her and her brother survive.
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her → die → age
Graham said Andrews’ criticism of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is misplaced because it lowered taxes on tips and Social Security.
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it → say → tips
“You called it the one big, ugly bill, so here you are deceiving the people of South Carolina,” Graham said.
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Graham → call → Carolina
On affordability, Graham said she has “lived paycheck to paycheck” before and acknowledged that “gas prices are high right now. ...
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prices → say → paycheck
I feel the pain, too.”
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I → feel → pain
She said that she supports suspending the gas tax and that easing regulations on drilling would permanently bring prices down.
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easing → say → prices
Andrews pinned blame for high gas prices on Graham, who she said voted several times against a war powers resolution to restrict Trump’s war with Iran.
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she → pin → Iran
“The war is the exact reason we now have record-high gas and diesel prices.
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we → have → prices
Farmers are getting crushed, and everything costs more,” Andrews said.
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Andrews → crush → more
“My opponent is the only one who had the opportunity to vote to end the war, but three times in a row she voted to continue it.”
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she → have → it
Andrews also dinged Graham for admitting during a previous debate that “national security is not my thing.”
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security → ding → debate
“South Carolina, if your surgeon said that appendectomies aren’t really his thing, would you still hand him a scalpel?
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you → say → scalpel
No,” Andrews said.
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Andrews → say → ?
“So why would we hand Darline Graham a full term in the U.S. Senate?
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we → hand → Senate
Graham retorted that she wants the war to end, like everyone does, but said she believes in “peace through strength.”
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she → retort → strength
Then, she went after Andrews over the national security quip.
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she → go → quip
“But talking about not my thing, let’s talk about what’s not your thing.
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what → talk → thing
At least I’m honest.
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I → ’m → ?
If I don’t know something, I am glad to say it, and I’ll say it again tonight,” Graham said without getting specific.
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Graham → know → it
“But you have, you are deceiving the people of South Carolina.
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you → have → Carolina
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
