Former South Carolina governors support Democrat Annie Andrews in Senate race | 2026 US midterm elections

Two former South Carolina governors, David Beasley and Jim Hodges, Republican and Democrat respectively, have come together in rare joint support for Democrat Annie Andrews’ Senate bid.

Andrews, a pediatrician, is seeking to flip the seat, currently held by Darline Graham, the Trump-backed sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, in what has become a surprisingly competitive race for the usually reliably red state.

“This country is too divided and the political rhetoric has gotten very out of hand,” Beasley says in the former governors’ joint endorsement video. “That’s why we’re coming together to support Annie Andrews,” Hodges said.

The two former governors, who once clashed, acknowledged that while they don’t agree on everything, they agree on Andrews as the best candidate to put South Carolina first.

“Annie understands that leadership isn’t about making people angrier. It’s about making things better,” says Beasley. “She’s willing to put people before politics,” Hodges adds.

Adds Beasley: “We may have been your governor in different political parties. But we agree that South Carolina deserves better than continuing the same political fights.”

Last week, Beasley, a Democrat-turned-Republican who served as governor of the Palmetto State from 1995 to 1999 before losing reelection to Hodges, wrote an opinion piece for the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper, lamenting the state of the party under Donald Trump.

“What happened today in the Republican Party is nothing short of heartbreaking,” he wrote. “Too many in the party have accepted winning by tearing others down and pitting people and communities against each other…I have yet to see President Donald Trump, as leader of the Republican Party, show compassion or even respect toward someone or a group with whom he disagrees.

“The vitriol is toxic and it undeniably fuels the hearts, minds and souls of Americans. »

It is “not the party I knew, and it is not the party of which I consider myself a member,” he added.

A recent poll indicated that Graham still holds a lead over Andrews, although the nonpartisan Cook Political Report had the state moving in the Democratic direction, from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.”

And it’s not the only time during this year’s midterm elections that prominent Republicans have crossed party lines and supported Democrats. In usually deep red Kansas, two former Republican governors, Bill Graves and Mike Hayden, supported Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton in his bid to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.

In Texas, another unexpected Senate battleground, Democratic candidate James Talarico received public support from more than 20 Republican leaders, as well as members of the Bush family, against Republican Ken Paxton. Republicans also supported Democrats in Georgia, Montana, Florida, Virginia, Illinois and South Dakota.