South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has picked Darline Graham Nordone to succeed her late brother Lindsey Graham in the United States Senate after President Donald Trump backed her for the role.
The appointment on Monday ensures the seat is quickly filled to maintain the 53-senator Republican majority in the 100-member chamber. Nordone will serve the rest of Graham’s term, until January 3.
The interim senator, who leads the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, has no formal political experience. But she has appeared at campaign rallies and in political advertisements alongside her late brother, including when he ran for president in 2016.
On Monday, she suggested that her tenure would be a continuation of her brother’s work. The late senator was a staunch supporter of Israel and a vocal cheerleader of the US-Israel war on Iran.
“I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States,” Nordone said.
She did not indicate whether she will run in the election for the full Senate term.
Republicans will hold primaries next month to replace Graham, who had won the party’s nomination earlier this year as he sought re-election. The Republican candidate will then face off with Democratic paediatrician Annie Andrews.
Earlier on Monday, Trump called on McMaster to appoint Nordone to fill the vacant Senate seat.
“I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”
Graham had no wife or children. While running for president in 2016, he said Nordone would be part of his support network if he won.
“If she took a role on, she would be a great representative of our country,” Graham, who died on Saturday at age 71, said at that time.
“I can’t think of a better person to represent our country in an event than my sister.”
Nordone was a pre-teen when both of her parents died, and Graham, who was in his early 20s, helped raise her.
On Monday, McMaster heaped praise on the late senator as he announced the appointment, calling him “irresistible” and “irreplaceable”.
“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed. It’s my honour to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now,” the governor said.
