Sen. Lindsey Graham's Death: Who Will Fill His Vacant Senate Seat?

With the death of longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, several questions remain about what happens next, including who will fill his Senate seat.

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Update 4:13 p.m. ET, July 13: Gov. Henry McMaster has chosen Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill the remainder of her brother’s term.

McMaster made the announcement in an afternoon news conference.

She called it an honor to fill his seat and that she thought “this is what Lindsey would have wanted” and that “I’m going to do this. I got it.”

Original report: Graham was in the midst of his reelection bid for a fifth term in the Senate representing South Carolina, The Associated Press reported.

Gov. Henry McMaster will choose a temporary replacement to fill Graham’s seat until January.

The governor’s spokesperson did not answer questions from The Washington Post about the timeline, telling the newspaper by email, “at this time, our focus is on honoring Senator Graham’s life and service.”

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There will also be a special primary for voters to choose the Republican nominee to replace Graham for November’s general election against Democrat Annie Andrews.

There is a one-week filing period for a special election in South Carolina. That filing period comes on the second Tuesday after a candidate’s death. The date is July 21. Then the special election will be on the second Tuesday after the filing period closes, or Aug. 11, with a runoff, if necessary, two weeks later, or Aug. 25, the AP reported.

The nominee will then have about two months to campaign for the Nov. 3 general election.

There is an issue, however, with the timing because federal law requires military and overseas ballots to be sent 45 days before a federal election. That date would have been June 27. The AP reached out to the Federal Election Commission for clarification on the rules.

Several rumors began soon after Graham’s death about who could replace him, even if only temporarily.

Some of the names the AP speculated included:

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette
Rep. Nancy Mace
Ralph Norman
Rep. Joe Wilson
Rep Russell Fry
Mark Lynch
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessenet

Some, however, are already doubtful, including Wilson, who was said to have told President Donald Trump on Sunday, “My goal is to remain in the House to keep his two-vote majority for the American people!!!”

The president posted on Truth Social on Monday morning that McMaster should appoint Graham’s sister to finish out her brother’s term.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) agreed with the president, telling CNN that Darline Graham Nordone should replace her brother in the upper chamber.

No Democrat has held the Senate seat vacated by Graham’s death for several decades. Graham replaced Strom Thurmond in 2003 after he had served since 1954.

Currently, the Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, but Sen. Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for the past month. There have also been challenges to the slim majority because of ideological battles between the president and moderate Republicans, the Post said.

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