2026 U.S. Elections: The sister of the late Senator Graham is running for his Senate seat — The NYT
In South Carolina, some voters are recalling the late Senator Lindsey Graham, even though his name does not appear on the ballots. After his death in July, his sister Darlene temporarily filled his Senate seat and is now the Republican Party’s candidate for a full term. However, this situation has sparked mixed reactions: some voters support her out of respect for her brother, while others see it as political nepotism.
While speaking with voters at polling stations near Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, journalists repeatedly heard the name Lindsey Graham. The senator died in July, but his political legacy continues to influence the course of the current election. After Graham’s death, his sister Darlene was appointed to the vacant Senate seat. She is now running as the Republican candidate for that same seat in a full-term election.
Voters’ reactions to her candidacy vary. Some view Darlene favorably because of their fondness for her late brother. They are essentially transferring the support the senator once had to his sister. Others, however, view this situation as a form of nepotism—when family ties help secure a political office. In their opinion, a Senate seat should not pass to a relative simply because the previous senator has died.
Among the voters who view the situation critically is 59-year-old Mia Lynch from Columbia. She emphasizes that she does not support either of the two major political parties, but in the current race, she leans toward the Democratic candidate, Annie Andrews. “I’d rather see a completely incompetent person in this position—someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing but is willing to learn the job—than deal with someone who comes from a political background,” Lynch said.
She added that she considers Andrews “the lesser of two evils.” Thus, for some voters, the decisive issue has become not only the candidates’ party affiliations but also how Darlene Graham came to be in the running for the Senate seat. This situation has become one of the themes of the current election campaign in South Carolina. For some voters, the Graham family’s history is a reason to preserve the political legacy of the late senator, while for others, it is an example of why public office should not depend on family ties. The New York Times reports on this.
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