Sen. Darline Graham running for full Senate term after being appointed to Lindsey Graham’s seat

By Morgan Rimmer, Dianne Gallagher, Ted Barrett, CNN

(CNN) — Sen. Darline Graham announced that she will run for her late brother’s seat this November, after being appointed last week to serve out the rest of Lindsey Graham’s term.

“I’ve made a decision. I’m in,” she said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Graham acknowledged the “tremendous amount of pressure” she’s felt to make up her mind quickly, with a filing deadline looming and President Donald Trump posting on Truth Social that he would like her to run for the seat.

“I’ve been praying a lot, talking to my family, but with the love of my family, with the support of his staff — I know I’m a hard worker, I learned that from Lindsey,” she added. “He cared about the people of this state. I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state. I feel like I can do it. I feel an inner peace about it. Will it be difficult? Yes, absolutely.”

Graham is the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate. She was appointed to the seat by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to serve until January 2027. A special primary election will take place August 11 to determine who will next hold the seat for the upcoming six-year term.

Multiple influential South Carolina Republicans told CNN the initial reports last week that Darline Graham planned to seek a full Senate term came as a surprise, as it was understood by them she would only complete the remainder of Lindsey Graham’s term.

A source with knowledge of the matter said that at the time McMaster appointed her to serve the remainder of her late brother’s current term, he was not under the impression Darline Graham would run as a candidate in the special primary election for a full term.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Monday that he is not endorsing Darline Graham at this time but called her “strong candidate.”

When asked by CNN why she is a strong candidate and what practical experience she brings to the job, Thune said: “She obviously carries on Lindsey’s legacy. But I think she’s a very accomplished person in her own right, and so you know she has a right, like anybody else, to get into that race.”

“It sounds like there are a number who are moving forward with campaigns. It’s going to be a short campaign season, I think, for the law in South Carolina, what it provides for,” Thune added. “But my assumption is that, you know, the voters in South Carolina, Republican voters, will come to a conclusion about that and send the right person forward.”

Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso, however, quickly backed Graham on Monday.

“Darline Graham is an excellent senator,” he told CNN. “She’ll continue to be an excellent senator, and she has my full support as she runs to fill the six-year term of Lindsey Graham.”

Steve Daines, the former chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, did not answer directly when asked if was unfair to Republican voters in South Carolina for Darline Graham to be essentially hand-picked and endorsed by the Republican establishment in Washington.

“I think Darline Graham is a very competent leader, and she has made a great impression on so many here in Washington. So let’s see how this all unfolds,” he said.

Graham, 62, has not previously held elected office. After she and Lindsey Graham’s parents died within 15 months of each other, she became orphaned at age 13 in 1976. Lindsey Graham — the first in his family to attend college, and a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps — became his sister’s legal guardian.

South Carolina Rep. Russell Fry also announced on Monday he will join the race to replace Lindsey Graham in the Senate.

“We need a conservative fighter in the Senate who delivers real results. I will be your conservative MAGA candidate in the special primary Senate election this summer,” Fry wrote on X.

Fry’s announcement comes after widespread speculation that he would seek the open seat. A third-term congressman representing South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District, Fry rose to national prominence in 2022 when he defeated incumbent Rep. Tom Rice in a Republican primary after Rice voted to impeach President Donald Trump. Backed by Trump’s endorsement, Fry went on to win the general election, cementing his ties to the party’s MAGA wing.

Before endorsing Darline Graham, Trump had spoken highly of Fry as a potential person to watch in the special primary.

Fry and Graham join the race alongside South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, attorney Duke Buckner and businessman Mark Lynch. Filing officially opens July 21.

Rep. Nancy Mace, who failed to win the GOP nomination for South Carolina governor earlier this year, announced on Monday that she would not run for Graham’s seat.

Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and ally of President Donald Trump, died following an aortic dissection, according to a preliminary finding from the Washington, DC, medical examiner. He was 71.

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This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Richa Sharma contributed to this report.