South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday appointed Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham, to serve the rest of the late Republican senator’s term, which ends in early January.
“Today, under the law, it’s my duty to and honor to name someone to serve in the place of this irresistible man, this irreplaceable man, this extraordinary man, for the remainder of his term,” McMaster, a Republican, said at a news conference alongside Graham’s sister.
“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed. It’s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now,” he said.
Graham Nordone thanked the governor for selecting her. “It is such an honor,” the senator-designate said. “Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him.”
She will be sworn in at 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
When she’s sworn in, Graham Nordone will become South Carolina’s first female senator.
The appointment came hours after Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he had recommended that McMaster choose her for the temporary post, saying it would be “a fabulous tribute to Lindsey.”
Graham Nordone will finish her brother’s six-year term, which ends Jan. 3. The senator died Saturday at age 71 of what was preliminarily diagnosed as a rupture of his aorta due to a hardening of his arteries, his office said Sunday.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., endorsed Graham Nordone for the seat earlier Monday after Trump’s social media post.
“Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, would be a fantastic pick to serve out the remainder of the senate term,” Scott wrote on X. “After speaking with Darline, there is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country.”
Graham spoke about his close relationship with his younger sister, whom he legally adopted after their father died of a heart attack when she was 13. Their mother had died only 15 months earlier of Hodgkin lymphoma, when Graham was 20.
In 2015, she said in a joint interview with her brother on Fox News, “I don’t know what I would have done without him.”
“It was a really tough time for us,” Graham Nordone said that same year, introducing him at the kickoff event for his GOP presidential bid in South Carolina. “I can remember the day my father passed away, standing in the living room of that house, absolutely scared to death. Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised me that he would always be there for me and always take care of me. And I can assure you he’s done that. He has never let me down.”
Graham Nordone is the commissioner for the South Carolina Commission of the Blind, a state agency that provides services to empower “individuals who are blind or low vision” through vocational and independent living training, according to its website.
She attended the College of Charleston, where she studied sociology and earned a bachelor of science degree in 1989.
It’s unclear whether Graham Nordone would want to run for her brother’s seat. Graham had been seeking a fifth term in the Senate in this year’s midterm elections after defeating a wealthy GOP challenger in his state’s Republican primary last month.
Under South Carolina law, candidates who want to run for Graham’s seat have one week starting July 21 to file for a special primary election that would be held Aug. 11.
Several possible candidates could enter the race.
South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch is running for Graham’s seat in the primary, his spokesperson, Liam Ford, confirmed. Lynch, who ran against Graham in the GOP primary earlier this year and lost, is putting $5 million into his campaign, Ford said.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who recently lost a GOP gubernatorial primary in her state, is strongly considering running for the South Carolina Senate seat, a source familiar with her thinking said.
Another potential candidate is Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who also just ran for governor and lost in the primary runoff election. A source close to Evette told NBC News that while the lieutenant governor and those close to her are still “shell-shocked” by the news of Graham’s death, Evette on Sunday received “dozens of phone calls and texts” encouraging her to jump into the Senate race.
The president endorsed Evette in the governor’s race in May, but it was unclear whether she would be his pick for the now-open Senate seat. The source close to the lieutenant governor said several of the calls and messages that she has received have been from “organizations involved in politics at the federal level.”
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., ruled out a run for the Senate seat in a post on X, writing that he assured Trump that his “goal is to remain in the House to keep his two-vote majority for the American people!!!”
