Two former South Carolina governors, Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges, have issued a rare joint endorsement for Democrat Annie Andrews's Senate bid.
Andrews, a pediatrician, is seeking to flip the seat currently held by Darline Graham, the Trump-endorsed sister of the late senator Lindsey Graham, in what has become an unexpectedly competitive race in the usually reliably red state.
Call for Unity
"This country is too divided, and the political rhetoric has gotten way, way out of hand," Beasley says in the joint endorsement video. "That's why we're coming together to support Annie Andrews," Hodges adds.
The two former governors, who once faced off against each other, 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. Well, it's about making things better," says Beasley. "She's willing to put people ahead of politics," adds Hodges.
Beasley adds: "We may have served as your governor from different political parties. But we agree South Carolina deserves better than more of the same political fighting."
Beasley's Critique of the Republican Party
Last week, Beasley, a Democrat-turned-Republican who served as governor from 1995 to 1999 before losing re-election to Hodges, wrote an opinion piece for the Charleston-based Post and Courier paper, lamenting the state of the party under Donald Trump.
"What has happened in the Republican Party today is just heartbreaking," he wrote. "Too many in the party have gone along with winning by tearing others down and pitting people and communities against one another … I have yet to see President Donald Trump, as leader of the Republican Party, show compassion or even respect to someone or some group that he disagrees with."
"The vitriol is toxic, and it is undeniably feeding into the hearts, minds and souls of Americans," he added. It is "not the party that I knew, and it is not the party that I consider myself a member of".
Race Dynamics and Other Cross-Party Endorsements
Recent polling has indicated that Graham still holds a lead over Andrews, though the non-partisan Cook Political Report has moved the state in the Democrats' direction, from "Likely Republican" to "Lean Republican".
This is not the only time in this year's midterms that prominent Republicans have crossed party lines. In Kansas, two former Republican governors, Bill Graves and Mike Hayden, endorsed the Democratic candidate, Adam Hamilton, in his bid to unseat Republican incumbent Senator Roger Marshall. In Texas, Democratic nominee James Talarico has received public endorsements from more than 20 Republican leaders, as well as members of the Bush family, over Republican Ken Paxton. There have also been cross-party endorsements from Republicans for Democrats in Georgia, Montana, Florida, Virginia, Illinois and South Dakota.
