SC governor appoints Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister to fulfill his term

COLUMBIA — Darline Graham Nordone will finish out the term of her older brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who adopted and raised her following their parents’ deaths.

Gov. Henry McMaster’s appointment Monday comes a day after word of Graham’s sudden death, at the age of 71, stunned not only South Carolinians but people around the globe.

“It’s my honor to ask his little sister to finish his work,” the governor said in making his announcement at the Statehouse. He took no questions from reporters.

Graham Nordone, who heads the state Commission for the Blind and has spent her career helping people with disabilities find jobs, will fulfill the term that expires in January. Voters will decide through a special GOP primary next month who will be on the November ballot for the next six-year term.

“Lindsey has always been there for me, and now, I’ll be there for him,” she said.

The brief news conference ended with her speaking to her brother: “I miss you more than I can even put into words. But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

The mother of two daughters has never sought elected office herself. She and her husband, Larry Nordone, live in Lexington. They have one grandson.

Graham died unexpectedly Saturday night following a ruptured aorta related to cardiovascular disease, according to preliminary findings from the District of Columbia medical examiner released by his office.

Graham, who never married and had no children, shared a tight bond with his sister.

Even before their parents died, she said, she relied on her brother.

“My parents, since they had to work a lot, Lindsey was kind of the one there that took care of me. If I fell down and scraped my knee, Lindsey was the one I ran to,” she said in a 2014 campaign ad for Graham.

Hours before the governor’s announcement, President Donald Trump publicly backed her as the choice, writing on social media, “This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”

Lawmakers, past and present, quickly endorsed the idea, including U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who called her a “fantastic pick.

“There is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country,” he wrote on X.

McMaster indicated Trump’s post didn’t influence a decision he’d already made: She “agreed to serve through tears,” the governor said about his phone call with her early Sunday.

“I was humbled by your quickness,” McMaster said at the news conference. “I called the president afterward, and he thought it was a great idea.”

Graham Nordone, who was 13 when their parents died, periodically joined her brother on the campaign trail, including his short-lived bid for president in 2015, which started his relationship with Trump on rocky grounds. Graham, however, quickly became a golfing buddy, friend and confidante to the president.

Mourning

On Monday, white flowers sat atop a black cloth draped over Graham’s desk on the U.S. Senate floor, and flags flew at half-staff across the country.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

McMaster on Sunday ordered flags above the Statehouse dome to fly at half-staff in Graham’s honor until further notice. Normally, such orders last through a funeral service.

On Monday, Trump ordered the same for flags on public buildings nationwide until 6 p.m. Saturday.

Tributes to Graham that flooded inboxes and social media platforms came from politicians, as well as current and former staff.

“Senator Graham never forgot who he was or where he came from. He loved Chick-fil-a so much that in the pre-smart phone era, staff provided a map of Chick-fil-a restaurants in South Carolina for his car so he could get a meal while on the road,” Scott Farmer, Graham’s campaign manager of 22 years, wrote on X.

“He loved SC and her people. If you needed help with Social Security benefits, the V.A., or a passport, the Senator’s constituent service team was second to none – modeled after his predecessor, Senator Strom Thurmond,” Farmer added. “If the Port of Charleston needed to be deepened to keep our state’s economy humming, Senator Graham made sure it happened. South Carolina’s congressional delegation hit above its weight because of Lindsey Graham and his tenacity to get things done.”

College leaders offering condolences included the president and board chairman of South Carolina State University, an alma mater of Graham Nordone. She earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling in 2009 from the state’s only public historically Black university.

“He devoted himself to serving both our state and our nation. His commitment to national defense, the men and women of our armed forces and the security of our country defined much of his public life,” reads the joint statement from the president, retired Col. Alexander Conyers, and board Chairman Douglas Gantt.

“His legacy of leadership, public service and dedication to South Carolina and the nation will endure,” it continued.

Other women who filled vacancies

Graham Nordone, who earned her bachelor’s in sociology from the College of Charleston, is not the first South Carolinian to fulfill a deceased family member’s term.

In the 20th century, four South Carolina women, all Democrats, were elected to finish serving their husband’s term in the U.S. House following his death. None sought election to the next full term:

• Rep. Elizabeth Hawley Gasque (Sep. 13, 1938-Jan. 3, 1939)
• Rep. Clara Gooding McMillan (Nov. 7, 1939-Jan. 3, 1941)
• Rep. Willa Lybrand Fulmer (Nov. 7, 1944-Jan. 3, 1945); and
• Rep. Corinne Boyd Riley (April 10, 1962-Jan. 3, 1963).

In all, 45 women nationwide have been elected or appointed to fill congressional vacancies created by the deaths of their husbands, eight to the U.S. Senate and 39 to the U. S. House of Representatives, according to the Office of the Historian of the U.S. House. Four additional widows took office — three by election, one by appointment — after their husband won an election but died before his term started.

The most recent include Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Louisiana, who won a 2021 special election after her husband, Luke Letlow, died before taking office. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-California, won a 2005 special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Rep. Robert Matsui. She’s since been re-elected to 10 terms.

And acting Missouri Gov. Roger Wilson appointed the late Sen. Jean Carnahan to the Senate in 2001 after voters posthumously elected her husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash three weeks before the election.

Pool hall to Capitol Hill

Graham’s is a story of a self-made man who went from humble beginnings in small town South Carolina to the halls of political power in Washington, D.C.

Born July 9, 1955, Graham grew up in the Upstate town of Central, just 5 miles outside Clemson.

His family lived in the back room of the Sanitary Cafe, the restaurant and pool hall his parents owned. His father, Florence “Dude” James Graham, and mother, Millie, ran the pool hall six days a week.

It was a textile bar during the industry’s heyday, serving up hotdogs and hamburgers to the local millworkers. It had a pinball machine, a jukebox and a rocking chair where his mother sat at the end of the bar, according to multiple media accounts of an e-book autobiography Graham self-published during his 2016 presidential bid.

The family cooked its meals in the bar’s kitchen and shared a bathroom with patrons. To bathe, they heated water on the stove and washed in a metal tub, Graham wrote.

When some customers left to use the restroom, Graham wrote he sometimes snuck swigs of their beers or puffs of their cigarettes, earning him the nickname “Stinkball.”

A “C” student in high school, Graham once told a teacher, “I want to be governor,” garnering snickers from his classmates, Graham wrote. After scoring an 800 on his SAT, he became the first person in his family to attend college, enrolling at the University of South Carolina.

Not long after he started school, the family went to Disney World for their first vacation. But when they returned home, tragedy struck.

His mother became exhausted and nauseous. A few months later, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. The doctors gave her six months to live.

The next spring, Graham’s father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Graham and his younger sister were in and out of the hospital with their ill parents.

On June 9, 1976, Millie Graham died holding her son’s hand. Then, 15 months later, their father died of a massive heart attack.

“I remember that day, Lindsey came running in and just grabbed me up and hugged me and he was like, ‘I’m so sorry, but it’s going to be OK. I’m going to take care of you.’ And he did. He’s always been there for me no matter what,” she said in a May campaign ad and mailer for Graham’s latest Senate bid.

Graham was 22 and his sister was 13. An aunt and uncle took his sister in, but Graham still helped raise her, driving home from college every chance he had.

Graham graduated with his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and became a commissioned Air Force officer before starting law school. To help pay his parents’ lingering medical bills and care for his sister, he sold pots and pans door to door in Columbia and tended the family’s liquor store on weekends.

After the bar exam, Graham began four years of active duty. The Air Force assigned him to the legal office at Shaw Air Force Base, where he took on cases related to the military’s flawed drug testing program.

His sister was in college when Graham was assigned as one of four Air Force prosecutors in Europe at the tail end of the Cold War.

He adopted her so she could receive his military benefits.

In all, he served in the U.S. Air Force for 33 years, more than six of those on active duty as a lawyer. He joined the Air National Guard in 1989 and joined a small-town law practice in Walhalla.

His political career began with a run for the state House, beating out the Democratic incumbent in 1992.

He served just one term in the state Legislature. In 1994, he won a U.S. House seat, replacing retiring U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick to become the first Republican from the 3rd District since Reconstruction.

Around this time, Graham also joined an Air Force reserve unit, serving for a decade before retiring as a colonel.

Graham spent four terms in the U.S. House, where in 1999 he gained public attention as one of the House managers during the Senate’s impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton. After the House voted to impeach Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice over his relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, the Senate found him not guilty.

In 2002, Graham won election to the U.S. Senate as the chosen successor to retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond, who remains the only senator in U.S. history to reach age 100 in office. Thurmond, who died within six months of retiring, ranks fourth among longest-serving senators in history at 47½ years.

Who will run?

A special primary to select a new Republican nominee to the seat Graham held for 23½ years is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Last month, Graham soundly defeated five GOP competitors to win the primary with 57% of the vote. A long list of candidates is expected to file to replace on the ballot.

A runoff Aug. 25 will almost certainly be needed. In South Carolina, a runoff is necessary if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.

So far, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman has said he will run. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace also is considering it, a former campaign staffer told the S.C. Daily Gazette. Both lost their bids for governor last month. Norman placed third, while Mace placed fifth in the GOP primary.

On the other hand, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, who called Graham a “patriot” during a tribute Monday on the U.S. House floor, made clear he will not run for Senate.