Graham was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday to fill the remaining months of her brother’s current term. A separate special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Lindsey’s Graham’s seat, as he had been seeking a fifth term this year.
Darline Graham, who will be the state’s first female senator, has not previously held public office. She 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 is married to Larry Nordone but will be known in the Senate as Darline Graham, her legal name.
She said on Monday that her older brother, who raised her after their parents died, had always been there for her. “And now, I will be there for him,” she said.
Graham, 71, died unexpectedly on Saturday in Washington. A preliminary report from the medical examiner said he suffered a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic dissection. One of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, he was the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was set to become the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said before the swearing in Tuesday that he knows Darline Graham “will carry on Lindsey’s tireless service to South Carolina.”
