South Carolina Democrat Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews on Sunday urged residents to put aside political differences following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham and recognize his decades of public service.

"I hope that South Carolinians will join me in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude to Senator Lindsey Graham for his service to the great state of South Carolina," Andrews wrote on X.

Andrews, a pediatrician, is the Democrat candidate seeking Graham's Senate seat. She previously ran unsuccessfully against Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District.

Graham, a Republican, represented South Carolina in the U.S. Senate since 2003 after serving four terms in the U.S. House. A longtime member of the Senate Armed Services and Judiciary committees, he became one of the chamber's leading voices on national security, judicial nominations and foreign policy.

After initially criticizing Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, Graham later became one of Trump's closest allies in the Senate and remained a key adviser on defense and international affairs during Trump's second term.