Lindsey Graham cause of death was an aortic rupture, and he was 71 years old when he died earlier this month. South Carolina then moved to fill his Senate seat by appointing his sister, Darline Graham, to serve out the rest of his term.
Darline Graham announced this week that she will seek a full six-year term in November and has the backing of President Donald Trump. She previously led the Commission for the Blind, giving her a public record before the appointment.
South Carolina and the 17th Amendment
The appointment fits a power that states gained under the 17th Amendment in 1913, which allowed governors to make temporary Senate appointments until voters choose a successor. In South Carolina, that means the seat can move from an appointment to an election path depending on the state’s schedule.
Family replacements in the U.S. Senate remain rare. An analysis of Senate archives found only 12 Senate vacancies have gone to family members since 1913, and the pattern has most often involved widows stepping in after a death.
Hattie Caraway and Jean Carnahan
Hattie Caraway was appointed in 1931 after Thaddeus Caraway died of a blood clot. She then won election in 1932 and again in 1938, becoming the first woman elected to the Senate. Jean Carnahan was chosen in 2000 to replace Mel Carnahan after he died in a plane crash shortly before he was elected to represent Missouri in the Senate.
Lisa Murkowski filled in for her father, Frank Murkowski, in 2002 after he resigned from the Senate. Rob Richie of Expand Democracy said of family succession in the Senate: “It is, frankly, a throwback to — not necessarily feudalism — but power by hereditary rule and the British crown.” He added: “Here we are in America 250.”
Darline Graham and South Carolina Republicans
Darline Graham and South Carolina Republicans now face the practical question that follows every temporary appointment: whether state law will require a special election before a full six-year term can begin. Darline Graham’s November bid is the next step that will test whether the family handoff becomes a short interim arrangement or a longer return to the ballot box.
Jean Carnahan once told her new Senate colleagues on Capitol Hill, “I know I did not come to the U.S. Senate in the same way you did,” and, “My name has never been on a ballot.” Darline Graham is now in a similar position: appointed first, then required to ask voters for the job on her own.
That is where the story stands. A death from an aortic rupture has already changed who holds the seat, and the November campaign will decide whether South Carolina keeps the temporary family replacement or sends the race to a broader vote.
