Annie Andrews Responds to Transgender Attacks in South Carolina Senate Race
Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democrat running for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, released a television ad on October 8, 2026, that addresses transgender issues directly. It came days after President Donald Trump directed an anti-trans slur at her, according to The Washington Post and CNN.
Andrews is a pediatrician, a doctor who treats children. In the ad, she speaks straight to the camera in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around her neck, according to The Guardian. She says: "I don't support biological men playing in women's sports, and I don't support and haven't ever performed gender surgery for minors."
The ad was a reply to two attacks. One came from Trump. The other came from an ad paid for by a super PAC — an outside group that can raise and spend unlimited money to support a candidate — backing her Republican opponent, Darline Graham, according to The Guardian.
That super PAC ad claims Andrews "is for they/them" and presents a transgender person as a threat to a child. Graham is the incumbent, the current holder of the South Carolina Senate seat, facing Andrews, according to NBC News.
The broader context here is why Andrews chose to answer instead of staying quiet. Candidates attacked on transgender issues face pressure on two sides. Silence can let the attack set the story. Responding can give the attack more attention and upset some supporters. Andrews answered on television, in her own voice, using her medical background as the frame.
Looking at what this could mean for the South Carolina race, the ad narrows the fight to two specific issues: sports participation and surgery for minors. It does not address the broader language used against her, and it does not repeat the slur. Whether that focus holds will depend on how Graham, the super PAC, and Trump respond next, and whether voters accept a pediatrician's denial as final.
