Darline Graham filed to run for Senator

Darline Graham Nordone enters South Carolina Senate race to carry on her brother's legacy

Darline Graham Nordone, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's sister and his appointed interim successor, announced Monday she will seek the Republican nomination for a full Senate term, with President Trump's endorsement already in hand.

Nordone made the announcement during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, ending days of speculation about whether she would move from caretaker to candidate. "I've made a decision. I'm in," she said.

The filing window for the August 11 special Republican primary opens Tuesday, and Nordone will enter a field that already includes two South Carolina congressmen.

The announcement caps a rapid sequence of events that began with Graham's sudden death on July 11. The 71-year-old senator died from a suspected aortic dissection after traveling to the NATO leaders summit in Turkey and meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv hours before he fell ill. He had been favored to win a fifth Senate term in November.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a close Trump ally, appointed Nordone to serve out the final months of Graham's current term. She was sworn in on July 14, becoming the first woman to represent South Carolina in the United States Senate. The appointment came just 48 hours after Graham's passing.

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