{"id":139584,"date":"2026-07-17T13:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/darline-graham-weighs-running-for-full-senate-term-as-funeral-scheduled-for-lindsey-graham\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:34:22","slug":"darline-graham-weighs-running-for-full-senate-term-as-funeral-scheduled-for-lindsey-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/darline-graham-weighs-running-for-full-senate-term-as-funeral-scheduled-for-lindsey-graham\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump urges Darline Graham to run for full Senate term as funeral scheduled for Lindsey Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Newly-sworn
Newly-sworn Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., sister of Lindsey Graham, walks past cameras as she leaves the Old Senate Chamber following a cermonial oath of office ceremony allowing her to serve as her late brother's temporary replacement, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span>(AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump said Friday that Darline Graham, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham, has his support to run for a full term to replace her brother in the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n

He wrote on social media that she \u201chas been a WINNER all of her life and, should she accept, has my Complete and Total Endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRUN, DARLINE, RUN!\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n

The president said he had discussed a potential campaign with Darline Graham at the White House. Four people familiar with the deliberations, none of whom were authorized to speak publicly, had previously said that she privately expressed interest in running.<\/p>\n

Trump’s endorsement dramatically reshapes the scramble to fill Lindsey Graham’s seat after he died last weekend. The president had previously suggested he could back a potential candidacy from Rep. Russell Fry. Several other noteworthy politicians \u2014 including Fry, Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette \u2014 have been eyeing a run.<\/p>\n

The filing period for a special primary runs from July 21 to July 28, and the primary is scheduled for Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

Plans for Lindsey Graham\u2019s funeral were also announced Friday. There will be a service in Washington on July 28 and more in South Carolina on July 29.<\/p>\n

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to serve the remainder of her brother’s term, which ends in January.<\/p>\n

The first woman to represent the state in the Senate, Darline Graham called it “such an honor,\u201d as dozens of her brother\u2019s staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cLindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him,” she said.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Graham died on Saturday<\/a> at age 71. A preliminary report from the medical examiner said he suffered a tear in his aorta.<\/p>\n

He never married or had a family of his own, but his sister was often by his side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads.<\/p>\n

In his announcement on Monday<\/a>, McMaster made no reference to her as a placeholder or symbolic appointment.<\/p>\n

However, a person familiar with McMaster’s thinking but unauthorized to speak publicly said the governor, in selecting Darline Graham, had never contemplated that she would run for the seat herself.<\/p>\n

Sen. Tim Scott, another South Carolina Republican, said he would not endorse any candidate in the primary because he also serves as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.<\/p>\n

But, he said, \u201cas Tim Scott, the voter of South Carolina, I might indeed wade into the water at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the truth of the matter is that Darline has so far been off to a remarkable start,\u201d Scott told reporters, asking about her as a possible special primary contender. \u201c\u2018Why not her?\u2019 would be my question.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he died, Lindsey Graham had millions in his campaign account and was expected to raise much more heading into the general election. But those aren\u2019t funds that Darline Graham could directly access, if she were to run, according to Bradley A. Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.<\/p>\n

Under federal rules, Lindsey Graham’s campaign would be limited to transferring just $2,000 to a potential Darline Graham candidacy. However, Smith said there is no limit on how much it could transfer to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which could \u2014 thanks to a Supreme Court decision<\/a> last month \u2014 \u201cspend an unlimited amount in coordination with Darline\u2019s campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can\u2019t be earmarked for Darline\u2019s campaign, but in those circumstances I\u2019m sure that the party will make sure she\u2019s not short of cash,\u201d said Smith, now serving as a professor at Capital University Law School in Ohio.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter Thomas Beaumont contributed from Des Moines, Iowa.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http:\/\/x.com\/MegKinnardAP<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newly-sworn Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., sister of Lindsey Graham, walks past cameras as she leaves the Old Senate Chamber following a cermonial oath of office ceremony allowing her to serve as her late brother's temporary replacement, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)(AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite) COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-139584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139584"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139597,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139584\/revisions\/139597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139584"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=139584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}