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 (July 13, 2026) that Ms. 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 (July 14, 2026) afternoon.

Ms. 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 (July 11, 2026) night at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but Ms. 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,” Ms. Nordone said, emotion rising in her voice. “But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

Introducing Ms. Nordone, Mr. 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,” Mr. McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Mr. Trump announced his support for Ms. Nardone to fill the seat earlier Monday (July 13, 2026).

Ms. 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.

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 Mr. 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 (July 14, 2026) after the candidate’s death, or July 21.

The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday (July 14, 2026) 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.

Graham died on Saturday (July 11, 2026) 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.

Ms. Evette, who has served nearly eight years alongside Mr. McMaster and received his endorsement in the governor’s race, is one possibility. She lost the June 23 runoff to Wilson.

Ms. Mace and Mr. 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.

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(July 12, 2026), Ms. Andrews called on South Carolinians to join her “in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude” to Graham for his service.

Mr. 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.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy, died after a rupture in his aorta, according to a preliminary medical examiner’s finding shared by his office.

Also read | U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passes away at 71

The rupture was related to the hardening of Graham’s arteries. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing.

Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had turned 71 years old just two days before dying on Saturday night (July 11, 2026). His office had originally said he had suffered from a “brief and sudden illness.”

Mr. Trump, who talked to Graham frequently, said he was “like a member of the family. It’s very tough.” He said on NBC that Graham had called him on Saturday night (July 11) after returning from a trip to Ukraine and “sounded a little bit tired, but perfect.” The President ordered that flags across the country be flown at half-staff until next Saturday (July 18) evening.

A noted foreign policy hawk, Graham was one of the most influential figures in Washington on international affairs, and he advised Mr. Trump on matters such as the Iran war and Russia. On Friday (July 10), Graham had announced an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions.

As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Graham also had a central role during Trump’s second term as Republicans pushed major legislation on party-line votes while holding a narrow 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Under South Carolina law, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement for Graham, who was seeking a fifth term in November. A new nominee will be selected in a special primary, which is required to be held within weeks of a vacancy. The winner of November’s general election will start a full six-year term in January.

Graham had a close, complicated relationship with Mr. Trump

Graham, elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving in the House, long promoted a policy of robust U.S. military interventionism and strong national defence that in later years would put him at odds with the growing isolationist wing of his party.

Over time, Graham became well-known for his close ties with Mr. Trump, whom the senator briefly ran against for the presidential nomination in 2016.

Their relationship would begin on a rough note, with Graham calling the then-New York businessman “unfit for office.” Graham used a profanity to describe Mr. Trump after Mr. Trump made disparaging comments about Arizona Republican John McCain, Graham’s best friend in the Senate and a Vietnam War veteran. Mr. McCain and Graham, along with Sen Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., were known as the “Three Amigos” and frequently travelled together to promote their foreign policy views around the globe.

During a campaign rally in South Carolina, Mr. Trump read out Graham’s personal cellphone number and continued to belittle him throughout the 2016 race as Graham made it clear he would not support Mr. Trump.

Graham, however, shifted significantly once Mr. Trump won the White House and emerged as one of Trump’s top allies — speaking with him frequently and becoming a regular presence on the golf course alongside the president — even as Mr. McCain remained a critic.

In a 2018 interview with The Associated Press, Graham explained his pivot by saying Mr. McCain taught him that the country must move forward after elections and that meant “you have an obligation” to help the president. Mr. McCain ran twice for the White House.

“And I’ve tried to be helpful where I could because I think he needs all the help he can get,” Graham said of Mr. Trump. “You can be a better critic when people understand that you’re trying to help them be successful.”

Graham was a prominent defender of Mr. Trump during the President’s two first-term impeachments — a reversal from Graham’s role as a House prosecutor during Democratic President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, when he urged senators not to make up their minds before listening to all of the arguments. Both Mr. Trump and Clinton were eventually acquitted.

Graham appeared to break with Mr. Trump after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, saying in a dramatic speech on the Senate floor that night, “Count me out. Enough is enough.” But the senator soon returned to Mr. Trump’s side, and the two remained close during Mr. Trump’s second term.

Foreign policy was a focus for Graham

Graham had just been in Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the senator visited his country 10 times during the years since Russia invaded in February 2022. “Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” Zelenskyy said.

He was also one of the chief backers of Mr. Trump’s war in Iran, having advocated for years for direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. Graham continued to defend Mr. Trump this summer even as many of his fellow Republicans questioned a tentative June ceasefire agreement that they worried could send billions of dollars to Iran.

“I’d rather try diplomacy than take it off the table,” Graham said of Mr. Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Tehran.

Graham’s travels made him a familiar face to dozens of world leaders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Graham understood that the security of Israel and the United States was inseparable.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

Graham led both the Senate Budget and Judiciary committees

As Budget Committee chairman, Graham helped oversee a Senate procedure that allowed Republicans to pass significant policies such as last year’s tax law without the threat of a Democratic filibuster.

He had previously led the Senate Judiciary Committee when Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020. The senator was in line to regain that gavel if the party kept its majority after the midterm elections and had pledged to confirm “as many conservative judges as possible.”

Graham was a key player in the Senate’s efforts to craft a massive immigration overhaul in 2013 as a member of a bipartisan group. The legislation passed the Senate with 68 votes but was never taken up by the House, so it did not become law.

Graham’s views on immigration, particularly an endorsement of a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. without legal status, put him at odds with some Republican factions.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who was his ally on that issue, said Graham was “part of every important policy issue and an indispensable player” in bipartisan negotiations.

An irreplaceable force in the Senate

Graham often worked across the aisle, even as he remained fiercely loyal to Mr. Trump. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said in a statement that “personal relationships often mattered more to him than the political disagreements of the day.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, said Graham was “over the moon” with the Russian sanctions deal announced Friday (July 10, 2026). “The last thing in the world I would have guessed was that he was sick or ill or in any way vulnerable,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

Jaime Harrison, a former national and state Democratic Party chairman who unsuccessfully ran against Graham in 2020, said that even during their “fiercest political battles,” the two men “could still share a conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina.”

Graham was unique in the Senate for his influence not only on Mr. Trump, but also on his fellow Republicans, who were aware of his ability to sometimes move the President’s thinking. He was also known for his sense of humour, often deployed to diffuse tensions.

Wyoming Sen John Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican, said Graham will be missed for his “quick wit and infectious laughter.” Mr. McMaster said in a statement that Graham was “irreplaceable.” Former Republican President George W Bush said Graham “understood how the world works” and “was a kind and funny man who loved our country and loved serving it.”

Graham often spoke about his humble roots, growing up in the back of a South Carolina bar and helping to raise his sister, Darline, after his parents died at a young age. Graham was not married and did not have children.

Special election to replace Graham could be within weeks

Graham won 57% of the GOP vote in South Carolina’s primary in June and was up against Democrat Annie Andrews, a paediatrician, and several minor party and independent candidates in November.

His death will likely prompt a scramble to fill a rare open Senate seat.

A number of Republican names began circulating as possible replacements to serve out the rest of Graham’s term, including three candidates who fell short for the party’s nomination for governor this year — Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt Gov Pamela Evette.

Also in the mix is Rep. Russell Fry, who was elected to the House in 2022.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters