““Democrat Annie Andrews will win the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, defeating Sen. Darline Graham and flipping a seat that Republicans have held for nearly three decades.” — CNN, Dianne Gallagher, Nov. 3, 2026 (CNN Newsource story as published by KESQ)”

The claim: ““Democrat Annie Andrews will win the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, defeating Sen. Darline Graham and flipping a seat that Republicans have held for nearly three decades.” — CNN, Dianne Gallagher, Nov. 3, 2026 (CNN Newsource story as published by KESQ)”

Why we rated it this way: The Senate's South Carolina roster shows the Class 2 seat Andrews won passed from Strom Thurmond (1956-2003) to Lindsey Graham (2003-2026) to Darline Graham, and the Senate's party-switch list shows Thurmond became a Republican on Sept. 16, 1964, so Republicans have held the seat for about 62 years, not nearly three decades. The 28-year figure matches a different fact in the same story: the last Democrat to win a South Carolina Senate race was Fritz Hollings in 1998. The projection itself and Andrews being the state's first woman elected to the Senate are consistent with the roster.

What would change our rating: A Senate record showing the Class 2 seat was held by a Democrat at some point after 1964 would move this to Matches record; a CNN correction clarifying it meant the last Democratic Senate win would resolve the discrepancy.