The morning after Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died, President Trump floated his choice for serving the remainder of his term: a little-known House member he saw as a loyal MAGA foot soldier.
The president had been fond of that House member, Russell Fry, ever since he had defeated a congressman who had voted to impeach him. Mr. Trump relayed the idea to Gov. Henry McMaster, who held the power to appoint an interim senator, on a call that Sunday morning, according to three people familiar with the conversation.
Mr. McMaster had another name in mind: Darline Graham, the late senator’s sister and an advocate for disability rights in a suburb of Columbia, S.C. Nobody seemed to know very much about her.
The exchange between Mr. Trump and Mr. McMaster kick-started one of the most high-stakes weeks in South Carolina’s political history, one that has shaped its first open Republican primary election for a Senate seat in more than two decades. The scramble culminated when Mr. Trump gave Ms. Graham his blessing — not only as a short-term caretaker for her late brother’s seat, but for the highly coveted six-year term.
The account of how Mr. Trump decided to back Ms. Graham is based on interviews with 10 people familiar with the events leading to Mr. Trump’s decision. It captures a tumultuous stretch for Mr. McMaster, who found himself fielding calls from a veterinary emergency room, and a fraught week for the president, whom several people described as uncharacteristically emotional about the death of his friend.
“It’s mind boggling,” said Kevin Bishop, who served as Mr. Graham’s communications director for 27 years. “The grieving, the campaigning, the funeral procession — and by the way, there’s an election two weeks after that, too.”
Mr. Trump’s selection of a political unknown is a significant gamble at a critical moment when control of both chambers is at stake.
Polls conducted last week showed Representative Ralph Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, leading the entire field. Mr. Fry, who is also running, is widely considered to be a contender, too, as is Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor and congressman whose political career was marred by a high-profile affair. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, is the Democratic nominee for the seat in the solidly red state.
If no candidate receives a majority of votes on Aug. 11, a runoff would take place two weeks later.
‘The perfect caretaker’
Mr. McMaster, who was the first statewide elected official to endorse Mr. Trump in 2016, spent the night after he learned of Mr. Graham’s death surrounded by his staff at the governor’s mansion. First, they got the word of his death out to Mr. Graham’s extended political network. Then they pivoted to conversations about who should replace him.
By the morning, Mr. McMaster had made up his mind.
“The governor had come to the conclusion that Darline would be the perfect caretaker,” said a person familiar with his thinking. “It so fit with the narrative of Lindsey Graham.”
The siblings had formed a particularly tight bond after losing both of their parents in a 15-month stretch when Mr. Graham was 22 years old and his sister was 13. Mr. Graham later became his sister’s legal guardian.
Mr. McMaster called the president on Sunday morning. Mr. Trump raised the idea of giving the temporary post to Mr. Fry, 41, who had proven his loyalty to the president by defeating Tom Rice, one of 10 House Republicans who had voted to impeach the president over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Mr. McMaster suggested Ms. Graham, discussing the closeness of her relationship with the late senator. The president said he thought it was a great idea, the three people said.
Then the governor called Ms. Graham, who agreed through tears to finish her brother’s term. There were no conversations about replacing him permanently, three people familiar with the conversation said.
Shortly after that call, Mr. McMaster’s beloved bulldog Mac fell ill from exhaustion. He continued to field calls about Mr. Graham’s seat from a veterinary hospital.
At that moment, Mr. Trump and the White House staff appeared to still have Mr. Fry in mind for the primary election. The president and the congressman were engaged in conversation over text messages, one person familiar with the exchange said. Mr. Trump made an appearance on Newsmax, calling Mr. Fry “outstanding” and saying he “could see” him succeeding his late friend.
But concerns were bubbling up about Mr. Fry’s candidacy — namely that he could create a critical vacancy in the House if he won the seat in the Senate. A special election wouldn’t occur before early 2027, leaving Republicans with one less vote at the start of a new Congress.
The White House press team, asked to comment on the events of the week after Mr. Graham’s death, pointed to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments during Thursday’s press briefing, when she said the president had concluded that Ms. Graham would “carry on her brother’s legacy of public service in that beautiful state.”
A meeting in the Oval Office
Around the same time, Ms. Graham met with the president in the Oval Office, flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, among others.
The morning meeting started with the country’s most powerful people sharing stories about Mr. Graham. Mr. Trump, who is not known to show emotion, appeared upset by the loss, two people said.
Then his aides handed him a list of names to succeed the late senator. It included Trey Gowdy, the former congressman and Fox News host who had already told multiple people he did not want the job, and Mr. Norman, who had endorsed Nikki Haley for president in 2024, and whom Mr. Trump quickly dismissed. It also included Mr. Fry, whom the president praised. Ms. Graham was on the list.
She spoke up, two people said, and asked the president what he thought about her running for the seat.
The idea had occurred to her earlier that week, after multiple people — from close friends to nationally known politicians — had reached out and encouraged her to start a formal bid, three people said.
Ms. Graham, 62, is widely respected for her work helping people with disabilities find jobs, most recently as commissioner of a state agency for blind residents. Some close to Mr. Graham felt her candidacy would best reflect his desires.
Mr. Trump appeared to be taken with the idea. He was also impressed by her composure, two people said. He told the room that he hated some people on the list, liked other people on the list, but loved only one candidate, and that was Ms. Graham, two people said.
He publicly endorsed her the next day.
But the work to transform a private, grieving sister into a candidate for the Senate was just beginning.
A well-liked advocate for the disabled
Ms. Graham, 62, became South Carolina’s first female senator when she was sworn in last week to serve out her brother’s term. In South Carolina, few people appeared to know anything about her politics or her identity beyond her close ties to Mr. Graham.
Even in her own neighborhood and the nearby capital, Columbia, residents said she was not often seen about town. Ms. Graham sat for an interview with the Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, but by Friday, she had not agreed to participate in any future debates with other candidates. Her staff declined to make her available for an interview for this story.
Advocates who have worked with Ms. Graham describe her as a skilled relationship-builder who has made a significant impact for people with disabilities.
“People have nothing but nice things to say about her, and that’s not always the case, especially when politics is involved,” said Kimberly Tissot, president and C.E.O. of Able SC, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities.
Katrina Shealy, 71, described herself as a close friend of Ms. Graham’s. She is one of five former state senators who were defeated three years ago after they blocked a near-total abortion ban in the state. But she said politics had rarely, if ever, come up with Ms. Graham — and certainly not the issue of abortion. Instead, they liked to drink wine on her back porch, watch Ms. Shealy’s pet donkeys and talk about their faith and families.
Ms. Graham is deeply religious and a mother of two grown daughters. Multiple friends described her as focused on her family.
“Her mannerism is not to get involved with politics that way,” Ms. Shealy said over lunch in Lexington, wearing an “America 250” necklace just like one she planned to give to Ms. Graham. “She didn’t go down to Mar-a-Lago or play golf.”
Ms. Shealy has been frustrated by online chatter suggesting that Ms. Graham would blindly follow the president. She described her friend as more principled than partisan.
“Lindsey and Trump weren’t always friends — they disagreed,” Ms. Shealy said. “I see Darline that way too.”
On Sunday, two days after Mr. Trump’s endorsement, Ms. Shealy texted her friend.
She knew the president supported Ms. Graham, but she wanted to make sure she had the backing of someone closer to home.
“You have always listened first, cared deeply about people, and treated everyone with dignity, regardless of whether they agreed with you,” Ms. Shealy wrote in a text reviewed by The New York Times. “South Carolina could use more of that.”
Ms. Graham replied.
“This message from you could not have come at a better time,” she wrote. “I have been praying hard. You are so right, I loved Lindsey beyond words and if I do decide to run it will not be for self ambition it will be to carry on Lindsey’s legacy and to help the people of SC.”
The next day, she announced that she would compete for her brother’s seat.
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