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119th United States Congress South Carolina governor Henry McMaster appoints Darline Graham Nordone to temporarily fill the U.S.
Confirmed
Darline Graham Nordone speaks during a press conference on July 13, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Grant Baldwin/ ) Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), will finish out Graham's term , South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Monday.
Neither she nor the governor said whether she will campaign for the full six-year Senate term, or just serve temporarily until January 2027. McMaster said she would serve out the remainder of Graham's term, which is set to end in 2027.
"Lindsey took care of his little sister," McMaster said. According to the US House of Representatives in 2025, 45 widowed women have directly succeeded their late husbands in Congress - 38 in the House and eight in the Senate.
Graham died over the weekend due to an "aortic dissection" caused by cardiovascular disease, according to a preliminary finding by the Washington DC medical examiner. Nordone said she believed "this is what Lindsey would have wanted and I plan to honour him in this way".
Lindsey has always been there for me and now I will be there for him," Nordone said. Graham's spokesperson said the death certificate would be pending until "all the toxicological and microscopic testing" was finalised.
Before Graham's death, Republicans held a 53-47 majority over Democrats in the Senate.
What's confirmed
- Darline Graham Nordone speaks during a press conference on July 13, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Grant Baldwin/ ) Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), will finish…
- McMaster said she would serve out the remainder of Graham's term, which is set to end in 2027.
- "Lindsey took care of his little sister," McMaster said.
What's still developing
- Lindsey has always been there for me and now I will be there for him," Nordone said.
- According to the US House of Representatives in 2025, 45 widowed women have directly succeeded their late husbands in Congress - 38 in the House and eight in the Senate.
- Nordone said she believed "this is what Lindsey would have wanted and I plan to honour him in this way".
- Graham died over the weekend due to an "aortic dissection" caused by cardiovascular disease, according to a preliminary finding by the Washington DC medical examiner.
- Neither she nor the governor said whether she will campaign for the full six-year Senate term, or just serve temporarily until January 2027.
- Before Graham's death, Republicans held a 53-47 majority over Democrats in the Senate.
- Graham's spokesperson said the death certificate would be pending until "all the toxicological and microscopic testing" was finalised.