Darline Graham Nordone was sworn in on Tuesday as an interim United States senator to complete the remainder of her brother Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) term.
The late senator’s term runs through the end of the 119th Congress on January 3, 2027.
“Please raise your right hand,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) instructed her, as he swore her into office. “Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you God.”
“I do,” Graham Nordone responded.
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Graham Nordone being sworn in as interim senator comes after Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) picked her to finish out the remainder of her brother’s term after he passed away at the age of 71 on Saturday “from a brief and sudden illness.”
“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed,” McMaster said. “It’s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham to finish his work for him now.”
On Monday, in a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump also suggested that Graham Nordone serve as an interim senator, stating that it “would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey.”
Several Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), expressed that Graham Nordone was carrying her brother’s “seat, his legacy, and his fight for South Carolina forward.”
“Darline Graham was just sworn in as the next United States Senator from South Carolina, filling the seat Lindsey Graham held for 23 years,” Mace wrote in a post on X. “Lindsey adopted Darline as his own daughter after their parents passed. Today, she carries his seat, his legacy, and his fight for South Carolina forward.”
“Honored to be able to welcome Darline Graham to the U.S. Senate today,” Thune wrote in a post on X. “I know she will carry on Lindsey’s tireless service for South Carolina, and I look forward to serving with her.”
“It was an honor to attend the swearing in ceremony for Senator Darline Graham today,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) wrote in a post on X. “Darline will carry on her late brother Lindsey’s legacy with honor. I look forward to serving with her.”
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