Darline Graham Nordone, the younger sister of the late US Sen. Lindsey Graham, was sworn in Tuesday as South Carolina’s interim senator, entering national politics with little public record of her views.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced her appointment Monday, two days after Graham, a Republican who had held the seat since 2003, died suddenly at age 71 while campaigning for a fifth term.
Nordone, 62, has never held elected office and is expected to serve until Graham’s term expires Jan. 3, while an Aug. 11 special Republican primary and the November election determine who will represent the state for the next six-year term.
Graham returned to Washington hours before his death from a diplomatic trip to Ukraine and called his scheduler late Saturday to report chest pains and ask her to contact emergency services, according to fellow Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
Emergency responders entered Graham’s home and attempted to treat him, but he died before he could be taken to a hospital.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington preliminarily determined that Graham died from complications linked to an aortic dissection, a tear in the inner wall of the body’s main artery, although final autopsy results are pending.
Limited political record
Her appointment was supported by President Donald Trump and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, with Trump describing it as a tribute to Graham and Scott endorsing her as a temporary successor.
Nordone has offered few detailed public positions on major national issues, but said after accepting the appointment that she would support Trump and continue her brother’s work on behalf of South Carolina and the US.
It remains unclear whether she will seek the Republican nomination in the Aug. 11 special primary, although several prominent South Carolina Republicans have expressed interest in competing for the seat.
While Nordone has largely avoided the political spotlight, she participated in her brother’s campaigns, appearing in Senate campaign advertisements and introducing him when he launched his presidential bid in 2015.
Nordone has served since 2019 as commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, where her work has focused on helping blind and low-vision residents find employment and live independently.
She previously held posts at Clemson University and two South Carolina state agencies.
Nordone graduated from the College of Charleston in 1989 with a sociology degree and later attended the University of South Carolina as a graduate student for two semesters without completing a degree, according to university officials.
A married mother of two who also has grandchildren, Nordone will become the first woman to represent South Carolina in the US Senate.
Family relationship
Nordone and her brother grew up in Central, South Carolina, where their parents operated a cafe that included a bar, pool hall and liquor store.
Their mother died of Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, when Nordone was 11, and their father died of a heart attack two years later, when Graham was 22 and attending law school.
Nordone was taken in by an aunt and uncle, while Graham became her legal guardian.
Their family history later became a recurring part of Graham’s political biography, with Nordone appearing in campaign advertisements and at major events during his career.
Although she publicly supported her brother, Nordone did not establish an independent political profile, and little is known about her positions on major domestic or foreign policy issues.
Graham, by contrast, developed a well-documented record as one of the Senate’s most interventionist voices, supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq, advocating a hard line against Iran, Russia and China, and calling for extensive US military support for Israel.
He remained an outspoken supporter of Israel throughout the genocide in the Gaza Strip that began in October 2023, at times rejecting calls for restraint and urging Israel to use whatever force it considered necessary.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 173,000, while destroying or damaging about 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure.
