{"id":565,"date":"2026-07-14T21:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=565"},"modified":"2026-07-14T21:43:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:43:32","slug":"darline-graham-sworn-in-to-the-senate-as-first-sister-to-succeed-a-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=565","title":{"rendered":"Darline Graham sworn in to the Senate as first sister to succeed a brother"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Sen. Darline Graham took the oath of office Tuesday to fill the vacancy left by the unexpected death of her older brother, four-term Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. The late Graham died Saturday night at age of 71 of an aortic dissection, according to preliminary findings by the D.C. medical examiner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=563\">What to expect when you\u2019re not expecting a clear Senate winner<\/a><\/p>\n<p>South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster announced Darline Graham\u2019s appointment Monday, hours after President Donald Trump recommended her for the seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is such an honor,\u201d Darline Graham said at a press conference at the statehouse in Columbia. \u201cLindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While a number of widows have succeeded their late husbands in Congress, and brothers have previously succeeded siblings, Graham is the first sister to do so in U.S. history. She is also the first sibling to directly succeed a deceased senator and the first woman to serve in the Senate from South Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Graham\u2019s appointment can be seen as analogous to the existing model of widow succession, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLindsey Graham did not have a wife, and he even mentioned when he was running for president that he thought that his sister would kind of take over [the role of first lady] in many ways,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cSo she actually seems to be taking over that role of spouse here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walsh pointed out that the\u00a0real test for women in South Carolina politics will be who runs for the full term, with potential Republican contenders including Rep. Nancy Mace and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette \u2014 although both women were unable to advance in last month\u2019s gubernatorial primary.<\/p>\n<p>Graham said in a press conference Monday that she would work with her brother\u2019s Senate staff to finish his work in office and help advance the president\u2019s agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her appointment also comes as questions linger around the prolonged absence of former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He issued a statement Sunday evening saying he was still recovering from a June 14 fall. McConnell confirmed he was recently moved to a rehabilitation center.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even with the addition of Graham to the ranks of Senate Republicans, McConnell\u2019s recovery means they still have one less vote ahead of a critical legislative work weeks before the August recess.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=561\">Todd Blanche takes his turn on the hot seat<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Graham comes to Congress with years of working in state government jobs, but otherwise little political experience. She previously worked as a commissioner on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and as communications and business services director for the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department.<\/p>\n<p>Graham and her brother were close: Lindsey Graham adopted Darline when he was 22 and she was 13, after both of their parents died in less than two years. \u201cLindsey was always my parent,\u201d she told The New York Times when he was running in the 2016 presidential primary.<\/p>\n<p>His death has triggered significant shakeups in committees. Lindsey Graham was chairman of the Budget Committee, former chairman and second in line on the Judiciary Committee, had the president\u2019s ear on foreign policy and was a senior member of the Appropriations and Environment and Public Works panels.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m still heartbroken over Lindsey, but I\u2019m glad his sister is here,\u201d said Senate Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. The two were part of the so-called \u201cGang of Eight\u201d that came to a bipartisan compromise on a sweeping immigration overhaul in 2013 that passed the Senate but stalled in the House.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he was looking forward to getting to know Graham and was glad McMaster appointed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that was very fitting. I\u2019m glad they did it that way because it took all of the politics out of the decision by doing that. So I think that was smart on the governor\u2019s part,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sure that Darline will be great to work with if she\u2019s anything like her brother.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At the Monday press conference, Graham said her appointment to the Senate was a way to honor her brother\u2019s memory before addressing her late brother directly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI miss you more than I can even put into words,\u201d Graham said. \u201cBut I\u2019m gonna do this. I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=559\">Facing America\u2019s truth, with eyes and ears open<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Nina Heller contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Darline Graham took the oath of office Tuesday to fill the vacancy left by the unexpected death of her older brother, four-term Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. The late Graham died Saturday night at age of 71 of an aortic dissection, according to preliminary findings by the D.C. medical examiner.&nbsp; South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Darline Graham sworn in to the Senate as first sister to succeed a brother - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=565\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Darline Graham sworn in to the Senate as first sister to succeed a brother - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sen. Darline Graham took the oath of office Tuesday to fill the vacancy left by the unexpected death of her older brother, four-term Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. The late Graham died Saturday night at age of 71 of an aortic dissection, according to preliminary findings by the D.C. medical examiner.&nbsp; South Carolina Republican Gov. 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Darline Graham Nordone, R-S.C., her husband Larry Nordone and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, participate in her ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. Nordone was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster following the death of her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. 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