{"id":7313,"date":"2026-07-13T18:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313"},"modified":"2026-07-13T18:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:35:00","slug":"darline-graham-nordone-has-little-political-history-beyond-praising-her-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313","title":{"rendered":"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Darline Graham Nordone, sister of the late senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), walks to the stage before his announcement of a presidential campaign in 2015. (Rainier Ehrhardt\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Darline Graham Nordone, the late senator Lindsey Graham\u2019s younger sister, has the backing of powerful Republicans to serve out the remainder of her late brother\u2019s term but a sparse public record of her political views.<\/p>

Read more Trump\u2019s attorneys, Justice Dept. leaders misused courts in IRS case, judge says<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham, who had represented South Carolina in the Senate since 2003, died suddenly Saturday night at age 71 while campaigning for a fifth term. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to announce a temporary replacement at a 4 p.m. news conference Monday, and President Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) threw their support behind Graham Nordone.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone, a mother of two who is nine years younger than her brother, has never held office and has stayed out of the political spotlight. She long supported Graham\u2019s political ambitions and has worked to help people with disabilities find jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a>. Scott described<\/a> Graham Nordone as a \u201cfantastic pick\u201d and said that \u201cthere is no one better who understands Lindsey\u2019s love for family, our state, and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone\u2019s appointment would allow her to serve out the remainder of Graham\u2019s term, scheduled to end in January. It is unclear whether she plans to run in the Aug. 11 special primary to replace him on the ballot to serve a full six-year term in the Senate.<\/p>\n

She did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone grew up with her brother in a small room behind a bar run by their parents called the Sanitary Cafe, and later moved into a trailer and a house next door. But when she was 11, their mother died of Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma, and their father died of a heart attack when she was 13.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone was taken in by her aunt and uncle and described her older brother as a father figure and caregiver. Graham taught her how to spell her name<\/a> \u2014 incorrectly, as her birth certificate says Darlene \u2014 and later formally adopted her to allow her to access military benefits.<\/p>\n

Graham often visited his sister on weekends while he attended college, she has said. When he later started a job as an Air Force prosecutor in Europe, he offered<\/a> to find her a college nearby in Europe so they could be together, though Darlene decided to stay home.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone also was a consistent presence in her older brother\u2019s political career.<\/p>

Read more Trump urges Senate to pass industry-friendly crypto bill \u2018in honor of\u2019 Graham<\/a><\/p>\n

When Graham first ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992, she knocked on doors<\/a> alongside him. In 2015, she was the last person to introduce Graham at his presidential campaign\u2019s launch in their hometown of Central, South Carolina, sharing stories of how he helped raise her.<\/p>\n

\u201cLindsey has been by my side through some wonderful times, he\u2019s been there though many special events in both my children\u2019s lives \u2026 and he has been by my side through some very tough times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Graham, who was not married, said<\/a> in an interview at the time that his sister would be a \u201csupport network\u201d if he were elected president. He also said<\/a> at the time that his sister could play the role of first lady, saying that he would have a \u201crotating first lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever I ask her to do, she would do, and if she took a role on, she\u2019d be a great representative of the country,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI can\u2019t think of a better person to represent our country at an event than my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone also was a fixture in Graham\u2019s campaign advertisements during his campaigns for Senate, talking about how her older brother took care of her and served as an inspiration to her.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Graham, accompanied by his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, speaks at the GOP headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina, in 2015. (Richard Shiro\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Graham beat a Republican primary challenger last month and was set to face Democrat Annie Andrews in November, in a race he was heavily favored to win.<\/p>\n

Several prominent Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, have expressed interest in running for the seat. The filing period opens on July 21 ahead of the primary and, if necessary, an Aug. 25 runoff.<\/p>

Read more Former Spanish leader is criticized for comments about France\u2019s World Cup team<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darline Graham Nordone, the late senator Lindsey Graham\u2019s younger sister, has the backing of President Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Scott to serve out the remainder of her brother\u2019s term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nDarline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Darline Graham Nordone, the late senator Lindsey Graham\u2019s younger sister, has the backing of President Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Scott to serve out the remainder of her brother\u2019s term.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T18:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9fa73881ee516548e1eef6d74d5d759e-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T18:35:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313\"},\"wordCount\":785,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313\",\"name\":\"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T18:35:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"FILE - Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walks to the stage before his announcement for presidency on Monday, June 1, 2015, in Central, S.C. (AP Photo\\\/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=7313#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Darline Graham Nordone, the late senator Lindsey Graham\u2019s younger sister, has the backing of President Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Scott to serve out the remainder of her brother\u2019s term.","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-07-13T18:35:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9fa73881ee516548e1eef6d74d5d759e-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother","datePublished":"2026-07-13T18:35:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313"},"wordCount":785,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313","name":"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-13T18:35:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cd18e77fc5369d261e0b23defbcefc60-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"FILE - Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walks to the stage before his announcement for presidency on Monday, June 1, 2015, in Central, S.C. (AP Photo\/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7313#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}