Democrat Who Pledged to Impeach RFK Jr Wins Key Senate Primary

Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who has treated children during South Carolina's worst measles outbreak in decades, won the state's Democratic Senate primary on June 9 after centering her campaign on a pledge to impeach Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [1]. The Associated Press called the race at 8:37 p.m., with Andrews defeating two opponents — former higher education administrator Brandon Brown and logistics professional Kyle Freeman — in a three-way contest [2].

Andrews will now face four-term Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham in November, an uphill contest in a state where no Democrat has won a Senate seat since Fritz Hollings last ran in 1998 [3]. Graham won his own six-way Republican primary the same night [1].

The question Andrews' candidacy poses extends beyond South Carolina: can a campaign built on impeaching a Cabinet secretary energize enough voters to matter, even if the constitutional mechanism for doing so runs through the House, not the Senate?

The Candidate and the Pledge

Andrews is a practicing pediatrician at a children's hospital who commutes between Charleston, where her children attend public school, and Washington, D.C. [4]. She previously ran for Congress in 2022, losing to Republican Nancy Mace in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District [2].

At a rally earlier this year, Andrews told supporters she would "lead the charge to impeach and remove RFK Jr." if elected to the Senate [1]. In an op-ed published in early 2026, she wrote that while Kennedy was not solely responsible for the measles outbreak spreading through South Carolina's Upstate region, "We're kidding ourselves if we pretend leadership doesn't matter" [5].

Her framing of the issue is clinical as much as political: "The fact that it is 2026 and here I am in South Carolina, where we are in the midst of a measles outbreak because of disinformation and conspiracy theories spread by people like RFK Jr. — is just really mind-blowing to me as a health care professional, as a physician, as a clinical researcher" [4].

There is a procedural wrinkle in Andrews' pledge. Impeachment proceedings originate in the House of Representatives, not the Senate. The Senate's role is to conduct the trial after the House votes to impeach. Andrews would be positioning herself as an advocate for removal, not as someone who could initiate the process directly [1].

The Measles Backdrop

South Carolina's measles outbreak has given Andrews' campaign a tangible, local dimension that many policy-focused campaigns lack. By April 2026, the state Department of Public Health had reported 997 confirmed cases, the vast majority concentrated in Spartanburg County's Upstate region [6]. Ninety-five percent of those cases — 945 out of 990 tracked through early March — occurred in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown [6].

Spartanburg County's MMR vaccination coverage in schools stands at 88.9%, below the state average of 93.7% and well below the roughly 95% threshold epidemiologists consider necessary for herd immunity [6]. The outbreak centered on a close-knit community of approximately 15,000 residents with low vaccination rates [6].

Source: CDC

Data as of Jun 1, 2026CSV

The national picture shows a sharp increase in measles cases since Kennedy took office. The U.S. recorded 924 cases in 2025 and South Carolina alone accounted for 997 in its outbreak through early 2026 — numbers not seen since the 1,274-case spike in 2019 [6]. During an interview on Fox News in March 2026, Kennedy falsely claimed that the MMR vaccine leads to "deaths every year" and causes "all the illnesses" of measles itself, claims that have no support in the medical literature [7].

What RFK Jr. Has Done at HHS

The impeachment argument rests on Kennedy's record of specific actions as HHS Secretary, not merely on his pre-confirmation history as an anti-vaccine advocate. Opponents point to several measurable changes:

Budget cuts: The FY2026 budget request submitted under Kennedy's leadership sought $94 billion in discretionary funding for HHS — a cut of more than 25% from the approximately $125 billion enacted for FY2025 [8]. The proposal included a 40% decrease in funding for the National Institutes of Health [9]. For FY2027, the administration has proposed a further 12.5% cut from FY2026 levels [10].

Source: Federal News Network / HHS Budget Documents

Data as of Apr 16, 2026CSV

Staffing reductions: Approximately 20,000 HHS employees were fired, took buyouts, or accepted early retirement. The department closed half of its regional offices, which served 22 states and five territories [8]. Kennedy defended these cuts by arguing the HHS workforce had grown 70% during the Biden administration and that the goal was returning to 2019 staffing levels [11].

In April 2026, Kennedy told a Senate Appropriations Committee panel that HHS was hiring 12,000 new employees — a majority of the positions it had cut — because the department needed them to conduct its work. He simultaneously maintained that the earlier cuts had caused no degradation in service quality [11].

Research disruptions: NIH funding cuts halted 380 clinical trials affecting more than 74,000 patients nationwide [12]. Roughly 2,500 federal grants remain terminated or frozen [13]. PolitiFact rated Kennedy's claim that "we're not cutting science" as "Pants on Fire," documenting a 31% cut to cancer research funding through March 2025 alone [13].

Vaccine policy changes: Kennedy directed the CDC to change designations for six vaccines on the federal vaccine schedule and ended the public comment process for HHS rulemaking, limiting external input from health experts on policy development [14].

The Constitutional Question

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution provides that "The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" [15]. Cabinet secretaries are "civil officers" and fall within this authority.

The historical record is thin. Only two Cabinet members have been impeached in American history. William Belknap, President Grant's Secretary of War, was impeached in 1876 for taking kickbacks from a contractor. He resigned the same day and was acquitted at trial, partly because senators questioned their jurisdiction over a former official [16]. In February 2024, the House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on charges related to border enforcement. The Senate dismissed the articles without conducting a trial [17].

The Belknap case involved clear financial corruption — what historians describe as using "his office to line his own pockets" [16]. The Mayorkas impeachment, by contrast, was widely characterized as a dispute over policy execution rather than personal misconduct. CNN's analysis at the time noted it was "nothing like" the Belknap precedent because the charges stemmed from "a disagreement about how a cabinet official ought to do his or her job" [17].

An impeachment case against Kennedy would likely fall somewhere between these precedents. Critics allege that Kennedy lied to Congress during his confirmation hearings when he promised not to undermine vaccine development and regulatory systems [14]. If substantiated, misleading Congress under oath could constitute a stronger constitutional basis than policy disagreements alone. But the question of whether policy changes that opponents view as harmful — even recklessly so — meet the threshold of "high crimes and misdemeanors" remains genuinely contested among legal scholars [15].

The Fundraising Picture

Andrews raised more than $5 million for her Senate campaign as of March 2026, drawing from over 156,000 individual contributions averaging under $26 each [18]. She has accepted no money from corporate political action committees [19].

Her Q4 2025 fundraising of $1.47 million outpaced Graham's $1.1 million for the same quarter, though Graham retains a large cash-on-hand advantage at $13.4 million [19]. The available data does not isolate how much of Andrews' fundraising surge occurred specifically after her impeachment pledge versus her broader healthcare-focused messaging. Her campaign has framed the small-dollar total as evidence of "grassroots momentum and voter frustration with Washington" [19].

Democratic Infighting Over Impeachment Strategy

Andrews is not the only Democrat running on impeachment of Trump administration officials. Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan introduced formal articles of impeachment against Kennedy in December 2025 while running in a three-way Democratic primary for Michigan's open Senate seat [14]. Stevens called Kennedy "the biggest self-created threat to our health and safety" [20].

More than 80 House Democrats have cosponsored separate articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois [21]. Some Democrats in competitive primaries have used impeachment rhetoric to appeal to base voters, sometimes getting ahead of party leadership.

But the strategy has drawn criticism from within Democratic ranks. A senior House Democrat told reporters, "You have to have a plan. If you don't have that, then it's just a campaign email" [22]. Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have moved cautiously on impeachment, recognizing that the party needs a net gain of four Senate seats to win control of the chamber — a goal that requires winning in competitive and even Republican-leaning states [21].

The tension is between energizing primary voters, who overwhelmingly support confrontation with the Trump administration, and positioning for general elections where impeachment messaging may alienate moderates. CNN reported in January 2026 that Democratic leaders were treating impeachment as a "dilemma," trying to balance the demands of rank-and-file members with the pragmatic requirements of the midterm map [23].

The Steelman Case Against the Pledge

Several arguments cut against making Cabinet impeachment a campaign centerpiece.

First, the procedural mismatch: Andrews is running for the Senate, which does not initiate impeachment. Her pledge, even if sincere, depends on House Democrats winning a majority and choosing to act — two conditions outside her control [1].

Second, historical precedent suggests Cabinet impeachment rarely succeeds and can appear partisan. The Mayorkas impeachment in 2024 was dismissed by the Senate without a trial. Critics argued then that impeaching officials over policy disagreements, rather than personal corruption, cheapened the tool [17].

Third, there is a strategic risk. Democrats need to flip seats in states like South Carolina, Iowa, and Maine to win the Senate. In South Carolina, where Graham defeated Democrat Jaime Harrison by 10 points in 2020 [2], a campaign perceived as focused on Washington process fights rather than local concerns could reinforce the perception that Democrats are out of step with the state's electorate.

No prominent Democratic constitutional lawyers have publicly argued that Kennedy's actions fail to meet the impeachment threshold, but several political strategists have cautioned that the focus on impeachment could crowd out bread-and-butter issues that poll better with swing voters [23].

Who Is Affected by Kennedy's Tenure

The constituencies most directly affected by Kennedy's HHS leadership cut across political lines in ways that complicate the narrative.

Public health professionals and researchers: The halt of 380 clinical trials and termination of thousands of grants has directly affected medical researchers, clinical staff, and the patients enrolled in those trials [12]. This constituency overwhelmingly opposes Kennedy's leadership.

Parents and pediatricians: The measles outbreak in South Carolina, and smaller outbreaks in Michigan and other states, has made vaccine policy a personal issue for families in affected communities [6]. Andrews' credentials as a practicing pediatrician give her direct standing on this issue.

Anti-vaccine-mandate advocates: A subset of voters, particularly in communities with religious or philosophical objections to mandatory vaccination, view Kennedy as an ally. The Spartanburg community at the center of the outbreak has low vaccination rates that predate Kennedy's tenure, reflecting longstanding skepticism of government health mandates [6].

Rural voters skeptical of federal agencies: Some rural communities have historically viewed HHS, CDC, and NIH as distant bureaucracies. Kennedy's rhetoric about reducing the federal health apparatus resonates with these voters, even as the practical effects of his budget cuts — including the closure of half of HHS's regional offices — may reduce services in their areas [8].

Polling on Kennedy's job performance is limited, but surveys of the general electorate show him as one of the most polarizing Cabinet members in recent memory, with approval ratings that track closely with partisan identification [23].

The Path Forward

The realistic path to impeaching Kennedy is narrow. Republicans control the House with a 220-213 margin, making it functionally impossible for Democrats to bring articles to a vote in the current Congress [14]. Even if Democrats win the House in November 2026, they would need to secure a two-thirds majority in the Senate for conviction — 67 votes in a chamber where they currently hold 47 seats [21].

The more likely scenario is that impeachment serves as a messaging framework rather than a legislative one. Andrews and other Democrats are using the impeachment pledge to crystallize opposition to Kennedy's public health record, draw attention to measles outbreaks and research cuts, and energize donors and primary voters.

Whether that framework helps or hurts in a general election against Graham — in a state where Republicans typically win statewide by double digits [2] — is the open question that November will answer.

Andrews, for her part, has signaled that her campaign will not be single-issue. She has emphasized healthcare affordability, access, and her professional credentials as a physician [4]. The impeachment pledge may have helped her win a primary. The general election will test whether it can do more than that — or whether it becomes a liability in a state where Graham's incumbency advantage and South Carolina's partisan lean remain formidable obstacles.