Split-ticket voting emerges as key factor in South Carolina’s historic Senate race

FORT MILL, S.C. — Democrat Annie Andrews won South Carolina’s U.S. Senate race on Tuesday, marking the first time the state has elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1998.

Political experts say split-ticket voters played a decisive role in pushing Andrews to her historic victory, with divided ballots playing a significantly larger role in this midterm election.

The impact of divided ballots was particularly clear in York County, where voters elected both Andrews and Republican gubernatorial candidate Alan Wilson.

Final election numbers show both Wilson and Andrews received just more than 1 million votes each.

Republican Senate nominee Darline Graham ran behind both candidates, securing just more than 900,000 votes statewide.

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One South Carolina split-ticket voter, who requested to remain anonymous, said he chose to vote for both Wilson and Andrews on Tuesday.

He explained that the election marked the first time he had ever voted for a Democratic candidate in a statewide election in South Carolina.

“Voting for Annie was a difficult decision,” the voter said. He cited Graham’s candidacy as the primary driver behind his vote, noting, “I wasn’t really enthusiastic about her entire campaign.”

The voter said Graham spoke less about state issues than Andrews did throughout the campaign. He also expressed concern with how Graham arrived on the ticket after her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, died in July.

“I think Darline Graham struggled to establish herself,” the voter said. “She inherited the Senate seat from her brother Lindsey Graham, who had died back in July. And she had never previously held elected office. And so, I just think that questions about her qualifications became a major campaign issue.”

Eric Heberlig, a professor of political science at UNC Charlotte, confirmed that the split-ticket vote was a major factor in South Carolina electing a Democratic senator. Heberlig noted that many conservative voters were dissatisfied with how the Republican nominee was selected.

“There were clearly Republican voters who were turned off by the process,” Heberlig said. “Many voters who voted for Ralph Norman, for example, in the primary didn’t like the installation of Darline Graham by the president.”

The anonymous voter reflected on how primary opponent Norman would have performed as the nominee, stating that Norman would have stood a better chance against Andrews. “I think I would have voted for Ralph just because I do lean more conservative and honestly I do think he would have won,” the voter said.

York County was not the only GOP stronghold where Andrews prevailed over Graham. Andrews also won Greenville County, another area where primary voters had previously backed Norman over Graham in the Republican primary.