Darline Graham was appointed to her late brother’s Senate seat to carry on his legacy — but Republicans don’t expect her to follow his exact same trajectory.
In the handful of statements, interviews and news conferences since Lindsey Graham’s sudden death on July 11, Darline Graham has emphasized that while the two siblings were shaped by the same shared history, she will bring her own style and interests to the Senate.
Her lack of political experience and public exposure, however, has left few clues for deciphering how she’ll approach her new job. It’s relevant now as the younger Graham has quickly shown she’s not just a caretaker finishing out the last few months of her brother’s term, but also a politician launching a campaign for a full six-year stint.
That means she’ll have to thread a tricky political needle as she works to honor Lindsey Graham’s memory by trying to get some of his biggest pet projects passed — while also moving swiftly to build her profile as she competes in a crowded Republican primary this August with President Donald Trump’s blessing.
“Darline Graham is going to be an outstanding continuation of Lindsey Graham’s work for South Carolina, plus more,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters. “She has a very good finger on the pulse of what the people of South Carolina care about.”
Barrasso pointed to her work in “human needs” — a nod to her previous leadership of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. That’s a different focus than that of her brother, a one-time Air Force military judge who was known for his work in national security, defense and foreign policy.
But the Wyoming Republican, when pressed for details about where he thought the two Grahams might split or overlap, acknowledged that “I haven’t had a discussion on each of the policy issues with her.”
That sentiment was echoed by three other Senate Republicans who conceded they don’t know yet what she stands for or what issues she’ll champion.
According to these senators, granted anonymity to speak freely, Graham did not give remarks during Tuesday’s closed-door lunch when her committee assignments were announced — though they said they understood that their new colleague might be most focused for the time being on honoring her late brother ahead of the memorials scheduled for next week.
Darline Graham entered the Senate with no apparent previous political experience; Lindsey Graham, by comparison, was well known in Washington and on the international stage after spending more than three decades in Congress, first in the House and then in the Senate.
“I don’t think anybody really knows who she is quite yet,” said Jeff Davis, chair of the Greenville County Republican Party.
“But she is her own person and different than Lindsey Graham,” Davis said. “So from our perspective, we’re certainly willing to give her the opportunity and chance, you know, to prove herself to us.”
Since joining the Senate last week following Gov. Henry McMaster’s appointment, Darline Graham has taken several votes on the Senate floor, each in line with the GOP. That includes helping to confirm Kara Westercamp, a nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of International Trade, who has had to apologize for making critical comments of her late brother and other Republicans in the past.
Graham is inheriting her brother’s congressional staff, helping ease her transition into the Senate but also providing her a similar kitchen cabinet of trusted experts and advisers to guide her. Incidentally, she’s also inheriting all of Lindsey Graham’s committee seats on Judiciary, Appropriations, Budget and Environment and Public Works.
“As a committed conservative with fierce determination, I will use my position on these panels to secure resources for South Carolina, advance President Trump’s judicial nominees and ensure federal dollars are spent responsibly,” Graham said in a statement Tuesday.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who heads an internal panel responsible for deciding committee seats, said in an interview that giving Graham her late brother’s seats “wasn’t automatic,” but that the decision was made after internal deliberations.
“It was just determined that that was the best procedure to move forward because we’re so close to the end of the session,” Crapo said.
While Republicans don’t expect her to be able to fill Lindsey Graham’s shoes on foreign affairs, an area where he had years of experience and a deep bench of personal relationships, she is quickly grabbing the mantle of one of his biggest priorities: trying to pass a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill through the Senate.
Lindsey Graham announced a framework for a sanctions package shortly before his death; Darline Graham made the proposal, which is now named in her brother’s honor, the first formal bill she introduced.
She is working behind the scenes to try to help build support and get the bill through the Senate, something she discussed with Senate Majority Leader John Thune on the floor Monday night. She also told Trump during their White House meeting last week that she wanted to get the measure passed in Lindsey Graham’s honor.
“She obviously carries on Lindsey’s legacy,” Thune, who hasn’t endorsed in the Senate race, told reporters this week. “But I think she’s a very accomplished person in her own right.”
Some Republicans, however, believe she also wants an additional statement of support from Trump for the sanctions bill before it moves in the Senate, according to two people granted anonymity to speak candidly — after the president added a curveball into negotiations by posting on Truth Social he wanted Iran sanctions added to the package, too.
“I think that the question has to do with adding Iran and how that’s done,” Thune said in an interview when asked about Darline Graham’s approach on the Russia sanctions bill. “But I think to her credit, Sen. Graham … wants to make sure that the White House is behind whatever that approach is.”
A spokesperson said that Graham “did not say nor did she imply” that she wanted an additional statement of support from Trump, adding that “she is extremely pleased with President Trump’s support for the legislation and is working closely with him to move it forward.”
Graham also announced Tuesday that the first existing bill she is co-sponsoring is the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s election overhaul bill that is the president’s top priority and components of which her late brother, just before his death, was working to incorporate into the party’s third budget reconciliation bill.
Even as Graham is aiming to finish some of her brother’s work, she’s also indicating that she will focus, for the most part, more on domestic policy than foreign policy.
Graham’s office did not make her available for an interview, but she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity during her first TV appearance since joining the Senate that she often questioned her brother on why he would use his frequent media hits to primarily discuss national security issues.
“I understand that’s important. Protecting our borders, national security, absolutely,” Graham said. “I said, ‘But talk about also what matters to the average person. The price of groceries, the price of gas, health care. Insurance, those kind of things.’ That’s what I’m worried about.”
Republicans also view Darline Graham as a more introverted personality not as inclined to seek out the spotlight — especially in comparison to her deeply extroverted brother, who gabbed with reporters around the Capitol and relished his unofficial role as a backchannel between Senate Republicans and Trump, serving as an adviser to the latter.
Graham tipped her hand toward the likely differences, saying in an open letter to constituents Saturday that “I am not Lindsey. I have my own way of doing things.”
“But we were raised with the same values,” she said, adding that she’s “spent my career helping South Carolinians with disabilities find employment and live independently.”
Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) told POLITICO last week that Darline Graham “understood what drove Lindsey. … It’s in her blood. It’s in her DNA.” But Britt deferred to the newest senator when asked Tuesday how she might be different.
“You know, I’m sure, like all of us, we love and respect our family,” Britt said. “[But] we’re our own people, so you’re going to have to ask her those questions.”
Samuel Benson contributed to this report.
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