Dr. Annie Andrews pledges action on fuel prices and Medicaid funding

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Dr. Annie Andrews returned to the Shem Creek docks in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday to celebrate her election as the first woman to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate and to pledge action on fuel prices, rural health care and Medicaid funding, Live 5 News reported.

Andrews Vows to Lower Diesel Prices for Shem Creek Fishermen

Standing among the fishing and shrimping boats, Andrews said high diesel prices stem from the war with Iran and vowed to work toward ending the conflict. She told supporters that fuel costs directly affect the livelihoods of local mariners.

“All these boats run on diesel, whether it’s a fishing boat like that or a shrimp boat like that,” said Cindy Tarvin, owner of Tarvin Seafood. “And so it’s always a consideration when they’re getting ready to go on a trip, whether they can afford to go on that trip.”

Andrews said her victory represented people coming together to put the state first. “It’s for the teachers that I met in every corner of the state, the veterans that I met who are struggling to get the health care that they earned, the law enforcement officers that need stronger partnerships with our federal government to do their jobs to protect our communities, and the farmers along with the fishermen and the shrimpers here in Mount Pleasant,” she said.

Families Cite Grocery Costs as Andrews Draws on Pediatric Experience

Andrews said her work as a mother and pediatrician would shape her approach in Washington. “I think we really desperately need that perspective, particularly in the U.S. Senate,” she said. “People who are in the thick of parenting right now who understand the challenges that we face, whether it’s, you know, the cost of groceries and gas, or the cost of prescription drugs, or, you know, social media’s impact on our youth, the mental health crisis on our youth.”

Supporter Eleni Hajikriacou, a newly naturalized Mount Pleasant resident, described the financial strain on working families. “Expensive and almost impossible for mothers to put food in their fridges after they work three jobs,” Hajikriacou said.

Marlboro County Boy Outside Closed Hospital Shapes Health Care Focus

Andrews recalled meeting a child outside a closed rural hospital in Marlboro County, which she said has zero hospitals and zero emergency rooms. “I always think about the 4-year-old little boy who looks so much like so many of the patients that I’ve cared for over my entire career as a pediatrician, who I met in Marlboro County standing outside a closed rural hospital,” Andrews said. “I cannot stop thinking about what will happen to this little boy if he has the symptoms of an asthma attack and his mother cannot get him to an emergency room fast enough. And I believe that everyone in South Carolina deserves access to affordable health care when they need it and where they need it.”

Andrews and Scott Plan to Meet Next Week Despite Differences

Andrews said she has spoken with U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and that the two plan to meet next week to discuss working together. “I spoke with Sen. Tim Scott earlier today, and we talked about how there is a lot we don’t agree on, but we love the state of South Carolina, and we know that we will work together to deliver results for the people here in South Carolina,” Andrews said.

“For Tim Scott and I to chart a new course forward, to demonstrate to the country that despite disagreeing on many things that we can work together across the aisle to solve the problems that people here in South Carolina are facing,” she said.

Stopping Medicaid Cuts Is Top Priority Before January Swearing-In

Andrews said her number one priority when she arrives in Washington will be stopping impending Medicaid budget cuts. She is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 3 and said she plans to spend the next two months setting up her office. “Me and my team are so eager to set up the most responsive and reliable U.S. Senate office South Carolina has ever seen,” she said. “That will be my priority the next two months before January, and I look forward to delivering excellent constituent services to the people of South Carolina.”

Questions About Andrews’ Senate Plans

Andrews said stopping impending Medicaid budget cuts is her number one priority when she reaches Washington, D.C.

Andrews garnered support from critical Republican and independent voters in addition to Democrats, building a people-powered coalition over 18 months.

“I never knew the ways this race would change over the 18 months that I was in it, but I knew that the movement we were building, this people-powered coalition that was for everyone, not just Democrats, but Republicans and independents, I could see with my own eyes that it was growing week by week by week,” Andrews said.