{"id":815088,"date":"2026-07-20T22:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T22:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/815088\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T22:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T22:45:08","slug":"lindsey-grahams-sister-darline-graham-says-she-will-run-to-succeed-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/815088\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Graham\u2019s Sister, Darline Graham, Says She Will Run to Succeed Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senator Darline Graham of South Carolina, who was sworn in last week<\/a> to temporarily replace her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, said on Monday that she would enter the race to succeed him.<\/p>\n

The announcement came days after President Trump urged her to run for the seat<\/a>. It cements her rapid transformation from a grieving sister seen as a caretaker of the Republican-held Senate seat to a first-time candidate vying for a place in the nation\u2019s most powerful governing body.<\/p>\n

Ms. Graham shared her decision in an interview<\/a> with the Fox News host Sean Hannity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I can do it,\u201d she said in a clip from the interview, which was set to air on Monday night. \u201cI feel an inner peace about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The filing period for the special Republican primary election opens on Tuesday and closes on July 28, the day of Mr. Graham\u2019s funeral in Washington. The special election is scheduled for Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

No one has been more central to Ms. Graham\u2019s sudden rise than Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly intervened to elevate her since Mr. Graham, his longtime ally, died on July 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Mr. Graham died, Mr. Trump posted on social media encouraging Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina to appoint Ms. Graham as an interim senator, saying that it would be \u201ca fabulous tribute to Lindsey.\u201d Days later, the president met with her in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Then, on Friday, Mr. Trump publicly encouraged Ms. Graham to run for her brother\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a WINNER all of her life and, should she accept, has my Complete and Total Endorsement in the Special Election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina,\u201d Mr. Trump wrote on his social media site. \u201cSHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. RUN, DARLINE, RUN!\u201d<\/p>\n

Several other prominent Republicans in the state, including Representatives Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, have already<\/a> indicated their intentions to run.<\/p>\n

Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who had considered a potential bid for the seat, said on Monday that she would not run, citing<\/a> \u201cunfinished business\u201d in the House.<\/p>\n

Ms. Graham, 62, has worked in various jobs to help people with disabilities find work \u2014 including most recently as commissioner of a state agency for blind residents. She does not appear to have previous political experience, other than publicly supporting her brother\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

The siblings formed a particularly tight bond<\/a> after losing both of their parents in a 15-month stretch, their mother to cancer and their father to a heart attack. Mr. Graham, 22 at the time, promised to care for his 13-year-old sister.<\/p>\n

They remained close through the years.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican majority leader, called Ms. Graham a \u201cstrong candidate\u201d but said he would not endorse a candidate in the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe, obviously, carries on Lindsey\u2019s legacy,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s a very accomplished person in her own right, and so she has a right like anybody else to get into that race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Gold contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senator Darline Graham of South Carolina, who was sworn in last week to temporarily replace her brother, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,285893,23022,3411,75,63933,58524,273887,24557,60603,517,3277],"class_list":["post-815088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-darline","tag-donald-j","tag-elections","tag-entertainment","tag-graham","tag-lindsey","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-republican-party","tag-senate","tag-south-carolina","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}