Charleston, South Carolina, US – South Carolina has elected a Democrat to the US Senate for the first time since 1998, according to the Associated Press news agency. In a major upset for the Republican Party, Annie Andrews won in a state seen as a solid Republican stronghold.

“I think we just made some history,” Andrews said on Tuesday night after results came in.

Andrews outraised Republican candidate Darline Graham by more than $22m, according to Federal Election Commission filings, primarily with grassroots donations. She had pledged to take no money from corporate political action committees (PACs).

Andrews campaigned on lowering costs for working families, expanding affordable healthcare and protecting reproductive rights, and on opposing endless wars.

Despite South Carolina being reliably conservative, many voters, including Republicans, believed Graham to be unqualified.

After Republican Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly in July, his younger sister, Darline, was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term. She went on to win a special primary runoff for the Republican nomination with US President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

Despite Trump’s endorsement, Graham struggled to unite conservatives behind her candidacy. During a primary debate, she said she was “not that informed on national security” and that “national security is not my thing”.

In the final month of the campaign, Trump made multiple appearances alongside Graham, an unusual investment of presidential time in a state Republicans normally win comfortably.

On Tuesday night, Andrews said Graham had called her and congratulated her on her win, which Andrews said she thanked her for.

In a victory speech, Andrews said, “This Senate seat doesn’t belong to one family, one party, or to Washington, DC. It belongs to you and it always will.”

“Nobody in Washington recruited me to run. Nobody handed me a seat in the United States Senate. And nobody wrote me a script,” Andrews said. “I owe no one in Washington anything.”

What does the win mean for South Carolina?

A South Carolina motto is, “While I breathe, I hope”. It appears on the right side of the South Carolina state seal. Many invoked this phrase as the results came in, claiming that this was their moment of hope

A group of medical students who attend the same medical school as Andrews were celebrating her win at the election watch party. They also volunteer at the free clinic in Mount Pleasant that provides free healthcare to uninsured people.

“Having a scientist in that space means a lot to us,” Daniel Newlands, one of the students, told Al Jazeera.

Lela Ali, a regional voting advisor in the South, told Al Jazeera that Andrews’s win could signal a change not only in South Carolina, but also for southern states.

“I think this victory and the gains across the region today gives people across the South a renewed sense of possibility,” Ali said. “We can’t turn our backs on the South.”

Toni Reale, 48, a mother and small business owner, teared up after Andrews win.

“In order for Annie to win, people would have had to change their typical votes, and that, to me, signals that people in my community have really thought about the options and put South Carolina first,” she told Al Jazeera.

She added, “We have a very smart and very hard-working electorate here in the state. And some really salt of the earth people that often vote against their best interests. And today, what I saw is people not just voting along party lines, but actually thinking about what’s best for our state.”

Holly Griffin, a 52-year-old healthcare worker, told Al Jazeera that the results show things are different for the state now.

“I think this shows the whole community that we have changed in front of us,” she said.