Darline Graham Nordone was picked Monday to serve out the term of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), who died suddenly over the weekend.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announced Graham Nordone’s appointment from the statehouse in Columbia, hours after President Donald Trump publicly called for her to fill the vacancy.
A mother of two who has never held elected office, Graham Nordone was a political confidante of her older brother, who helped raise her after their parents died. She often appeared in Graham’s campaign advertisements and, when he ran for president in 2015, Graham, who never married, said his sister could play the role of first lady.
“Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him,” Graham Nordone said in brief remarks Monday. “I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honor him in this way.”
McMaster said that he asked Graham Nordone to fill the vacancy when they spoke early Sunday, after Graham’s death, and that she agreed through tears to serve. When he called Trump afterward, McMaster said, the president thought it was a great idea.
“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed,” he said. “It’s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now.”
Graham, a longtime senator, died of an aortic dissection on Saturday night at age 71, amid a campaign for a fifth term. He won the state’s Republican primary last month and was set to face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.
South Carolina law dictates that the GOP hold a special primary election to select a replacement nominee, but it gives the governor discretion to fill the seat in the meantime. Graham Nordone would serve through the end of her brother’s term in January.
Before McMaster’s announcement, Trump had suggested online that Graham’s “wonderful sister, Darline,” should be the interim senator.
“This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!” Trump wrote on social media.
Neither Graham Nordone nor McMaster gave any indication whether she will be a caretaker for the seat or run for a full term. She did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The filing period for the special election will open July 21 and last one week. A primary will take place Aug. 11, and if no candidate wins outright, there will be a runoff on Aug. 25.
Several prominent South Carolina Republicans have expressed interest in running for the seat, including Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, all of whom lost the competitive gubernatorial primary last month.
Mace, a prolific poster, was quick to endorse Trump’s recommendation of Graham Nordone to fill the vacancy, writing on social media: “I wholeheartedly support the President in his recommendation. What a wonderful idea!”
There is a long tradition of family members directly succeeding each other in Congress. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was appointed in 2002 by her father, Frank Murkowski, to fill the seat he vacated to become governor.
Nearly four dozen women over the past century have filled a vacancy created by their late husbands. Most recently, Rep. Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana) won a special election in January 2021 to replace her husband, who was elected to the House but died of covid-19 before taking office.
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