A Sister’s Succession

It’s something that happens so often in politics that there’s a name for it: widow’s succession.

Dozens of times over the past century, women have filled a seat previously occupied by their late husband, and some have gone on to serve a long career.

What has never happened in Congress before is what Darline Graham is doing: a sister’s succession.

Less than 48 hours after Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly from heart issues last month, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s younger sister to complete the remaining six months of his term.

Soon after that, Darline Graham announced that she would also run for a full six-year term, a bid that came at President Trump’s request.

In the solidly red state, her biggest hurdle is likely to come in a primary runoff today.

She is running in part on the legacy of her brother—but also in ways that bear no resemblance to the way he approached the job.

Where he was chatty and seemed to love campaigning, she is reserved and describes the campaign as “brutal.” Where he was the ultimate Washington insider who served in Congress for more than 31 years, she is running as a populist outsider who previously worked with the disabled and visually impaired.

And where he was one of his party’s most prominent and outspoken foreign-policy hawks until the day he died, she has conceded to having no experience and not much interest in such matters.

“I’m not that informed on national security,” she said during a debate last week, a blunder that has become a focal point in the final days of an abbreviated campaign.

The president came to her defense, praising her for being honest.

He has invested significant time and political capital in attempting to give her a late boost in a closer-than-expected primary race.

Her late brother comes up during almost every public event she holds—“I knew I could not sit on the sidelines.

That’s not how Lindsey and I were raised,” she’s said—and campaign mailers tout that she is “Prepared to Carry on Lindsey’s Legacy.” She tells voters that “no one can ever fill his shoes” but that she will earn his seat.