New Senator Graham Following Old Playbook as She Preps for August Primary

Senator Darline Graham Nordone may not have planned a career in politics, but with the death of her brother Senator Lindsey Graham, she’s been thrust into the searing spotlight of campaign whose penultimate, and maybe biggest challenge, comes in a matter of weeks.Ms. Graham already faces questions about whether she meets newly adopted state GOP rules that say candidates have to have cast a ballot in at least two of the last three elections to run in next month’s primary. Ms. Graham’s office says she does.Republican Congressmen Russell Fry and Ralph Norman have announced they’re also running for the Senate seat, as is Mark Lynch, a Greenville businessman who took 29 percent of the primary vote in June against Lindsey Graham.“I’m committed to finish what God has called us to since February of 2025,” Mr. Lynch said on social media. “To bring the U.S. Senate seat of South Carolina back to TRUE Conservative leadership for the Republican party.”As official Washington prepares for Ms. Graham’s brother’s funeral next week, South Carolina’s junior senator is undeterred, prepping a campaign to win a full term in November – complete with an endorsement from President Trump for the August 11 primary.. South Carolina’s state Republican party chair who said last week he had expected Ms. Graham to simply be a caretaker of the Senate seat. Those, like him, who think this move is unexpected might need to learn a little history.“The practice is so historically frequent that we have a nickname for it – ‘the widow’s mandate,’” said Micah Rasmussen, a political science professor at Rider University in New Jersey.In the House of Representatives that currently includes Congresswoman Doris Matsui of California, a Democrat who was elected to the seat of her husband Bob in 2005 after his death. Congresswoman Julia Letlow, a Republican who is also the party’s nominee for US Senate in Louisiana, first won her seat in 2021 after her husband Luke died of covid-19. Luke Letlow had been elected to the House in 2020 but died before being sworn in.While Ms. Graham is the first sister to succeed a brother, at least 45 women have been appointed or elected to succeed their husbands in Congress in the last 105 years. Among the most prominent is Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell who succeeded her husband after his record-setting 59-year reign.“It makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons – continuity, name recognition, and the idea of a caretaker who would protect their family member’s legacy,” Rasmussen said.When North Dakota Democratic Sen. Quentin Northrup Burdick died in 1992, his widow Jocelyn Birch Burdick was appointed to serve out the last few months of his term. When Senator and former presidential candidate Hubert Horatio Humphrey died in office in 1978, his widow Muriel was appointed to the Senate and held his seat for nearly a year. Neither Mrs. Burdick nor Mrs. Humphrey sought election to a full term.“It’s less frequent that the caretaker would decide to stick around after completing the unexpired term, but we do have some examples of women who have gone on to distinguished tenures of their own right,” Rasmussen said.That includes Democratic Congresswoman Lindy Boggs, who created a political and media dynasty that included her daughter Cokie Roberts, a former newscaster. Lindy Boggs’ husband Hale Boggs was the House Majority Leader in 1972 when his plane disappeared over Alaska during a campaign swing. A 1973 House resolution effectively declared Mr. Boggs dead and required a special election. Mrs. Boggs won that election and eight others, serving as a Democratic congresswoman from Louisiana before retiring in 1991.“Margaret Chase Smith is enjoying a resurgence in recent attention, probably stemming from interest in the Maine Senate race,” Rasmussen said. “Arguably, she was one of the nation’s most important, early female lawmakers. What’s probably lost to history is that she was first elected to the House in the wake of her husband’s death.”Lindsey Graham was up for re-election this November, and the opponent for Republicans won’t change.The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate is Doctor Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who won her primary against two other challengers last month.If no Republican candidate wins a majority in the primary, a runoff will be held on August 25.While Senator Darline Graham is still getting accustomed to life in the Senate, she’s also plunging into an intense campaign where a six-year term and her brother’s legacy are all on the line. If she wins, she will be able to forge a path all her own in the Senate.“Sometimes, it’s less important how you got there than what you do with the opportunity,” Rasmussen said.

New Senator Graham Following Old Playbook as She Preps for August Primary

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