Darline Graham Nordone took the oath of office Tuesday afternoon to serve out the remaining Senate term of her late brother, Lindsey Graham.
Nordone was appointed Monday by South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, just two days after Graham’s sudden death, and was sworn in by Senate President pro tempore Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
A 62-year-old wife, mother of two and grandmother, Nordone becomes the first woman ever to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate. She is expected to serve until Graham’s successor is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2027.
“It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and 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 Monday during a news conference announcing her appointment.
Although Nordone has not previously held elected office, McMaster’s office said in a statement that she has “dedicated her career to public service.”
Since 2019, she has led the South Carolina Commission for the Blind (SCCB), where, according to the governor’s office, she “has worked to expand opportunities for South Carolinians who are blind or have low vision to achieve employment and independence.”
State public employee records list Nordone as the commission’s “agency head” and show she earned $138,000 annually — slightly below the prorated $174,000 yearly salary she will receive as a U.S. senator.
Before becoming commissioner, Nordone spent nearly three decades in positions at Clemson University, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce and the South Carolina Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
“In addition to her full-time role as SCCB Commissioner, Ms. Graham currently serves on the South Carolina State Workforce Development Board and is president-elect of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind,” the McMaster statement continued.
Nordone has a bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston as well as a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling is a Certified Public Manager.
President Trump and several South Carolina GOP lawmakers had backed Nordone to take up her brother’s mantle prior to McMaster’s announcement.
“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 Truth Social. “This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”
Congress has a long history of family members stepping up under tragic circumstances to succeed their loved ones in office.
There have been eight cases of widows replacing their late husbands in the Senate and 39 instances of the same dynamic in the House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
The most recent Senate example came in 2001, when Jean Carnahan was appointed to represent Missouri after her husband, Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan, was posthumously elected three weeks following his death in a plane crash.
Jean Carnahan was defeated the following year by Republican Jim Talent in a special election.
The South Carolina Republican Party will hold a special primary Aug. 11 to replace Graham on the November ballot.
Graham, who never married or had children, died suddenly Saturday evening after suffering a tear in his aorta. He was 71 years old.
Preliminary findings from the Washington, DC, medical examiner’s office determined that the ruptured aorta was brought on by chronic heart disease.
