Senator Lindsey Graham passed away over the weekend. The medical examiner claims that he died of aortic dissection, and people around Graham claimed that he complained of feeling sick in the days leading up to his death. He even planned to see a doctor on Sunday, after his appearance on Meet the Press. Graham was also up for reelection this year, and the polls had him in a dogfight with the Democratic candidate Dr. Annie Andrews. Graham’s passing obviously throws the South Carolina senate election into disarray, and the state is going to do a special election in August to select a new Republican nominee. It’s possible/likely that SC will have to do a special election AND a runoff election just a few weeks later if one candidate doesn’t get a clear majority. In the meantime, the Republican governor of South Carolina needed someone to fill Graham’s Senate seat for the last six months of his term. The governor chose Graham’s sister.

Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been named as her late brother’s temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate after his unexpected death over the weekend.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on Graham’s current term, which expires in January. She will be sworn in Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the Senate schedule who requested anonymity ahead of an announcement.

Nordone will be the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

“It is such an honor,” she said, as dozens of Graham staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling tears. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

Graham died on Saturday night at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but Nordone was often by her brother’s side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads. After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his sister, for whom he later became legal guardian. They were very close, and she was there as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year, along with her children and grandchildren.

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words,” Nordone said, emotion rising in her voice. “But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

Introducing Nordone, McMaster said the two had spoken in “in the wee hours of Sunday morning” after Graham’s death, and he asked her to serve.

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Nardone to fill the seat earlier Monday.

Nordone has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She lives in Lexington, is a graduate of the College of Charleston and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling.

[From NBC Miami]

I’ve seen many people complain about this and while I agree that it’s a bad look for family members to “inherit” Senate seats, this kind of thing is actually pretty common. Especially when an elected official dies in office with only months left in his or her term – more often than not, the spouse of the elected official is chosen to serve out the term. Since Lindsey Graham was, uh, a confirmed bachelor without a spouse or children, then his sister was his closest relation. She likely promised not to use her temporary position to launch herself as a candidate for the seat as well.

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