Politics · United States · 2 days ago
South Carolina Democrat says she opposes trans women in women’s sports
Annie Andrews, a Democrat running for the US Senate in South Carolina, has said she opposes biological males competing in women’s sports.
She also said she does not support gender surgery for minors, and that she has never performed it.
Republicans are criticizing her because she opposed a 2022 state law that barred transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s public school teams and said she supported trans youth.
Andrews is facing Republican Darline Graham in a competitive race, and Graham says Andrews is trying to hide her earlier position.
Republicans are making transgender athletes a campaign issue, as they did in the 2024 election.
Other Democrats in competitive races have also used ads to say boys should not play on girls’ teams or that states should decide the rules.
Andrews’ new campaign ad responds directly to Republican attacks, and the issue is expected to remain part of the midterm campaign.
South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Dr Annie Andrews says she opposes biological males competing in women’s sports.
Andrews also says she does not support gender surgery for minors.
Her campaign statement comes amid Republican attacks over her past opposition to a South Carolina law restricting transgender athletes.
Republican Sen. Darline Graham accuses Andrews of trying to hide her earlier position.
The dispute is part of wider Republican efforts to make transgender athletes a campaign issue in the 2026 midterm elections.
- Who
- Dr Annie Andrews, the Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina, and Republican Sen. Darline Graham.
- What
- Andrews says she opposes biological males competing in women’s sports and gender surgery for minors. Graham accuses her of concealing her past position.
- When
- The articles were published on October 9, 2026. Andrews’s new campaign ad was released recently.
- Where
- South Carolina.
- Why
- Republicans are using transgender athletes as a campaign issue and criticizing Andrews over her past opposition to a state law restricting their participation in girls’ and women’s sports.
Andrews
Graham and Republicans
Andrews's current position
Andrews
She says she opposes biological males competing in women’s sports and gender surgery for minors.
Graham and Republicans
Graham says Andrews is trying to hide her past record supporting transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
South Carolina law
Andrews
Andrews called the 2022 law restricting transgender athletes in public school girls’ and women’s teams harmful and said she supported trans youth.
Graham and Republicans
Republicans point to Andrews’s opposition to the law as evidence of her past position.
I don't support biological men playing in women's sports, and I don't support gender surgery on minors
has spent years supporting biological males competing in girls’ sports. Now that she’s running for Senate, she’s trying to hide from that radical record
I want you to hear me loud and clear: 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
Andrews opposed a South Carolina law barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s public school sports teams.
Republicans used transgender issues in campaign ads targeting Democrats, including Kamala Harris.
The US supreme court upheld laws in two conservative states excluding transgender girls and women from female sports.
Articles reported Andrews’s new statement and ad opposing biological males competing in women’s sports.
- Candidate
- Dr Annie Andrews, Democrat
- Opponent
- Sen. Darline Graham, Republican
- State
- South Carolina
- Earlier position
- Andrews opposed a 2022 law restricting transgender athletes in public school sports
- Current statement
- Andrews opposes biological males competing in women’s sports
- Published
- October 9, 2026
Sources
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