A pre-dawn phone call on Sunday brought startling news from Capitol Hill: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had died.
The notification came shortly after 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time, initially prompting confusion about which senator had passed. The late lawmaker had appeared to forge a deal on a Russia sanctions measure over the weekend, a step some colleagues predicted could pressure Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
Graham, a Republican, first won a House seat in 1994 as part of the class that flipped control of the chamber for the first time in 40 years. He later served as a House impeachment manager during proceedings against President Clinton before joining the Senate in 2003.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster moved quickly to fill the vacancy, asking Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, to complete the term. The appointment avoids shrinking the narrow Republican House majority, since state law bars direct appointment to the House.
Darline Graham, a political newcomer whom the late senator adopted after their parents died, was sworn in Tuesday as the 2,022nd senator in American history. She is the first person to immediately succeed a sibling in the chamber.
Several South Carolina House members have expressed interest in running for the full term. The state will hold a snap primary in mid-August, with the winner facing a Democratic challenger in November.
The Senate observed Graham’s death with a black drape over his desk and a bouquet of white roses. Colleagues praised his drive to solve problems rather than merely debate them.
His absence leaves a significant gap in the Senate’s working dynamics. One Republican colleague noted that passing major legislation will be harder without his persistent voice in negotiations.
The new senator recalled how her brother taught her to ride a bicycle and urged her to keep pedaling. Today, she takes up that ride again to finish the term he began.
