Lindsey Graham’s sister has said she is ditching his bloodthirsty playbook to actually help South Carolinans.
Darline Graham Nordone, who replaced her brother after his sudden death, said that unlike Lindsey, who was passionate about ending the Russia-Ukraine war and had a penchant for beating the war drum over Iran, she plans to focus primarily on domestic issues.
In an exclusive interview with Hannity on Fox News, Graham Nordone recalled watching her brother on the talk shows for years.
“I used to see him on the talk shows. I would watch him, and I’d be like, ‘Lindsey, are you just talking about national security all the time?’” she said.
“And I understand that’s important. Protecting our borders, national security, absolutely.” But she said she pushed him to broaden his focus. “I said, ‘But talk about also what matters to the average person. The price of groceries, the price of gas, healthcare. Insurance, those kind of things.’ That’s what I’m worried about.”
Lindsey Graham died on July 11 at age 71, with his cause of death later identified as an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. “It’s been tough, extremely tough,” Graham Nordone told host Sean Hannity. “He was everything, he was my rock. He was my brother, my mother, and my father,” she added.
Graham Nordone was appointed to temporarily fill her brother’s vacant seat by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on July 13, becoming the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate.
President Donald Trump had publicly urged her to run for a full term, describing her as a “spectacular person, and a true American Patriot” and writing on Truth Social that he asked her, “for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.”
Despite her lack of political experience, Trump added that “there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,” pledging his “Complete and Total Endorsement” should she enter the race.
She has now made her decision. In the interview with Hannity, Graham Nordone announced she is running for the full six-year term, telling him, “I’ve made a decision. I’m in.”
She acknowledged feeling a “tremendous amount of pressure” to decide quickly given an approaching filing deadline, saying, “I’ve been praying a lot, talking to my family, but with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I’m a hard worker, I learned that from Lindsey,” according to CNN.
Her entry sets up a three-way Republican showdown. South Carolina Representatives Russell Fry and Ralph Norman have also announced Senate bids, with Fry casting himself as the “conservative MAGA candidate” focused on gas and grocery prices.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has already endorsed Graham Nordone, saying on X he was “proud to join President Trump” in backing her. Filing for the special primary opened this week, with the primary itself set for August 11.
Multiple South Carolina Republicans told CNN that reports of Graham Nordone’s Senate ambitions came as a surprise, since it had been widely understood she would only serve out the remainder of her brother’s term rather than seek a full one herself.
A source familiar with the matter said McMaster was not under the impression, at the time of her appointment, that she intended to run in the special election at all.
In an earlier statement posted to X, Graham Nordone wrote that while her brother “accomplished so much” and had “so many big ideas that he was determined to see through,” she intends to lead differently.
“Yet I am not Lindsey. I have my own way of doing things,” she wrote. “But we were raised with the same values: work hard each day, trust in the Lord, remember your roots, and never forget who you work for.”
Graham became his sister’s legal guardian following the deaths of their parents within 15 months of each other, and she played a central supportive role during his 2016 presidential campaign. Graham Nordone is married to Larry Nordone and they have two daughters.
