Washington — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death late Saturday has set off a scramble for who will succeed him in the Senate, with a field of GOP candidates aiming to replace him in the November Senate election swiftly shaping up.
Separate from a special Republican primary that will take place in the coming weeks, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, will first appoint a temporary replacement to serve out the rest of Graham’s term, which ends Jan. 3, 2027. The late senator’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, will be McMasters’ pick to serve out the rest of his term, sources familiar with the decision told CBS News.
The governor announced later Monday that he had asked Graham Nordone to finish Graham’s work in the Senate.
“Lindsey has always been there for me and now, I will be there for him,” Graham Nordone said in remarks after McMaster announced her appointment, adding, “It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States.”
There will also be a special election held to replace the late senator on the ballot for the general election in November. Graham was seeking a fifth term in the Senate and secured more than 56% of the vote in the South Carolina Republican Senate primary in early June.
Republicans who will vie for Graham’s Senate seat have one week — from July 21 to July 28 — to file to run, and a special primary election is set to take place Aug. 11. If no candidate secures a majority of the vote, a runoff will be held on Aug. 25.
The winner will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, taking on Democrat Annie Andrews in the fight for a six-year term.
Graham, a giant in South Carolina politics and a key figure in the Senate, died suddenly at the age of 71 Saturday. Preliminary findings from the District of Columbia’s medical examiner showed that the senator died of aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Here are the potential candidates to replace Graham:
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette was among the crowded field of candidates for South Carolina governor and advanced to a runoff election in the race. But she fell short, losing to Attorney General Alan Wilson, who secured the GOP nomination for governor. The lieutenant governor had won Mr. Trump’s endorsement in the GOP primary, though the president went on to back both her and Wilson in the runoff.
Evette is the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor in South Carolina. Before she was elected to the role, Evette worked in the private sector, having founded the payroll management company Quality Business Solutions, Inc.
Evette has been inundated with calls and texts urging her to run for the now-open seat that was held by Graham, two GOP sources familiar with the discussions told CBS News. Asked whether she would consider a bid to replace Graham, Evette told CBS News on Monday that it was “disheartenting” that the conversation had turned so quickly to politics after his passing. She added, “There’ll be a time for that.”
Rep. Nancy Mace
Rep. Nancy Mace, who fell short in her bid for the governor’s mansion earlier this year, has also been floated as a possible candidate. Mace told CBS News on Sunday that she would “be remiss” if she didn’t “at least consider” a bid for the open Senate seat.
Earlier Sunday, Mace posted on X a five-second clip from the movie “The Godfather Part III” that shows Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, declaring, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
Mace became the first Republican woman to represent South Carolina in Congress when she was elected in 2020. Since then, she’s made a name for herself as a GOP firebrand and was a leading figure in the fight for the Trump administration to release files from the federal investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Her third term in the House expires early next year, after she opted for a gubernatorial bid instead of seeking reelection. She finished fifth in the Republican primary.
Mace previously sought a Senate seat, launching a bid against Graham in 2014. She came in fifth in that GOP primary, too.
Rep. Ralph Norman
Like Mace and Evette, Rep. Ralph Norman was a candidate in the Republican primary for governor. He placed third in the race, behind Evette and Wilson, securing 17% of the vote. He was backed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the gubernatorial race.
Norman supported Haley over Mr. Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Norman has represented South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District in the House since 2017 and is a member of the Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers. Before he was elected to Congress, Norman served in the South Carolina House and was a real estate developer.
Rep. Russell Fry
Rep. Russell Fry is also being encouraged to run by South Carolina Republicans, two Republican sources told CBS News.
Fry, who was elected to the House in 2022, represents a solidly Republican district, giving the GOP a strong chance of retaining his seat in the House in the November midterm elections. He previously served in South Carolina’s General Assembly.
Gov. Henry McMaster
Gov. Henry McMaster could also launch a bid for Graham’s Senate seat, should a so-called caretaker be appointed to fill the remainder of Graham’s term.
McMaster has been in the governor’s mansion since 2017, when he was appointed to finish out Haley’s term after she was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during Mr. Trump’s first administration. McMaster was elected to a full term as governor in 2018, and then won reelection in 2022.
McMaster’s term as governor is up in January. He has deep ties to South Carolina politics, having served as chairman of the state Republican Party for nearly a decade. McMaster was elected South Carolina’s attorney general in 2002, and then lieutenant governor in 2014.
