Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Lindsey Graham, chosen to fulfill
remainder of his US Senate term
[July 14, 2026]
By MEG KINNARD and JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone,
has been named as her late brother's temporary replacement in the U.S.
Senate after his unexpected death over the weekend.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the
Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on
Graham's current term, which expires in January. Senate Majority Leader
John Thune said afterward that she will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon.
Nordone will be the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.
“It is such an honor,” she said, as dozens of Graham staffers and
campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling
tears. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there
for him.”
Graham died on Saturday night at age 71. He never married or had a
family of his own, but Nordone was often by her brother's side for the
political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing
in some of his campaign ads.
After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his
sister, for whom he later became legal guardian. They were very close,
and she was there as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year,
along with her children and grandchildren.
“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words," Nordone
said, emotion rising in her voice. "But I'm going to do this. I got it.”
Introducing Nordone, McMaster said the two had spoken in “in the wee
hours of Sunday morning” after Graham's death, and he asked her to
serve.
“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness
to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that
President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told
him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Nardone to fill the
seat earlier Monday.
Nordone has worked as an optician and at various state agencies,
including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department
of Employment and Workforce. She lives in Lexington, is a graduate of
the College of Charleston and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation
counseling.
How will a special primary work?
A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican
nominee in the general election for Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a
fifth term this year.
The rare open Senate seat has ignited a scramble among South Carolina’s
most ambitious conservatives, who have been eager to climb the political
ladder.
Republicans just finished a sprawling and bruising contest to figure out
their nominee for succeeding McMaster, who is wrapping up his second
term. State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the nomination, overcoming
a field that included Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace and Ralph
Norman — all of whom are now eyeing Graham’s seat following his death
over the weekend.
According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special
primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s
death, or July 21.
The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after
that filing period closes, or Aug. 11. Any necessary runoff would follow
two weeks after that, or Aug. 25.
From that point, the new nominee would have just over two months to
campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.
All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires
military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal
election. For the special election primary, that would have been June
27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a
message seeking clarity about the process.
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Newly appointed U.S. interim Senator, Darline Graham Nordone, with
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, right, and Sen. Tim Scott
(R-SC), left, speaks to members of the press after being appointed
of to fill the vacancy created by the passing of her brother, U.S.
Senator Lindsey Graham, at the statehouse Monday, July 13, 2026, in
Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Who could replace Graham?
Graham died on Saturday night, and a preliminary medical examiner
report said he suffered a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic
dissection.
In the hours after Graham's death was announced, South Carolina’s
Republican circles were already swirling with rumors about possible
replacements.
Evette, who has served nearly eight years alongside McMaster and
received his endorsement in the governor's race, is one possibility.
She lost the June 23 runoff to Wilson.
Mace and Norman could run in the special primary as well. Neither of
them are running for reelection to their House seats.
But another Republican from the state, Rep. Russell Fry, could be a
possibility. The two-term lawmaker represents the growing area
around Myrtle Beach, and he's been a top Trump ally.
Businessman Mark Lynch, whom Graham defeated in the primary, may
jump into the race. So could Mark Sanford, the state's former
governor who served two separate stints in the House.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who lived in South Carolina before
joining the Trump administration, has fielded calls about
potentially replacing Graham but doesn’t have interest in the role
and enjoys working for the president, according to a person who
insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.
How does Graham's death affect the general election?
No Democrat has won a Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and
Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by
double digits. When Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated his
Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point
margin.
So while history suggests that Graham was en route to a fifth term,
Republicans are carefully surveying the landscape.
Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews won the Democratic nomination
last month and has raised more than $8 million in the race, and she
had just under $3 million cash on hand at the end of May, according
to federal filings. Graham had taken in $6 million, with just over
$4 million on hand.
In a statement Sunday, Andrews called on South Carolinians to join
her “in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude" to Graham
for his service.
Harrison, noting that he and Graham “had our share of political
disagreements,” wrote on social media that he “always appreciated
that even in our fiercest political battles, we could still share a
conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina and
the institutions we were both privileged to serve.”
___
Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to
this report.
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