<\/p>\n
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Monday that Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, will serve in the U.S. Senate for the remainder of her brother\u2019s term following\u00a0his death over the weekend.\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press conference in Columbia, McMaster formally named Nordone to fill the vacancy left by the longtime Republican senator, who\u00a0died Saturday at age 71\u00a0after suffering severe heart complications. Graham\u2019s office said the senator\u2019s death was preliminarily attributed to an aortic dissection caused by hardening of the arteries.\n<\/p>\n
Graham served in the Senate for more than two decades and was a leading voice on national security, judicial nominations, and foreign policy. His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from lawmakers across Washington and South Carolina, with many Republicans highlighting his decades of public service and close relationship with President Donald Trump\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an important day in South Carolina history,\u201d McMaster said during the press conference. \u201cWe meet in sadness over the loss of one of South Carolina\u2019s greatest sons. Lindsey Graham recognized the greatness of America and its role in this world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, under the law, it is my duty to name a replacement. It is my honor to ask his little sister, Darline, to take his place,\u201d McMaster added.\n<\/p>\n
Nordone welcomed the governor\u2019s remarks, saying that \u201cLindsey was always there for me, now I am going to be there for him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
During his initial remarks in the press conference, the governor added that after talking with Nordone on Monday morning, he \u201ccalled President Donald Trump afterward, to which the commander in chief believed was a great idea.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, after the governor and president spoke, Trump publicly\u00a0urged McMaster\u00a0to appoint Graham\u2019s sister to the seat.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham\u2019s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!\u201d Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.\n<\/p>\n
Nordone has long been one of her brother\u2019s closest confidantes. After the deaths of their parents when she was 13 years old, Graham became her legal guardian and often spoke publicly about their close relationship.\n<\/p>\n
The appointment ensures that\u00a0South Carolina\u00a0will have full representation in the Senate while voters determine who will ultimately succeed Graham.\n<\/p>\n
Republican voters are scheduled to select a nominee in a special primary on Aug. 11. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top contenders will advance to a runoff election on Aug. 25. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the\u00a0general election. The winner will claim the seat once Graham\u2019s term concludes.\n<\/p>\n
Several Republicans have been mentioned as potential candidates, including Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Ralph Norman, and Rep.\u00a0Nancy Mace. All three have been floated as possible contenders for the seat as South Carolina Republicans begin the process of choosing a long-term successor to one of the state\u2019s most influential political figures.\n<\/p>\n
This article was originally published at The Daily Signal. Photo Credit: Henry McMaster \u2013 https:\/\/x.com\/henrymcmaster\/status\/2076795785555882328.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Monday that Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, will serve in the U.S. Senate for the remainder of her brother\u2019s term following\u00a0his death over the weekend. Let the IFA community know how to pray for you. \u00a0 Speaking at a press conference in Columbia,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[6994,10129,1256,779,2005,10130,5770,10131,639],"class_list":["post-30455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-prayer","tag-brother","tag-darline","tag-governor","tag-graham","tag-late","tag-nordone","tag-replace","tag-s-c","tag-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}