Darline Graham Launches 6-Year Senate Bid as She Shifts Focus to Domestic Issues

Q: Why can a governor appoint a senator in one state but not in another?

A governor can appoint a U.S. senator only if that state’s legislature has given the governor that power under the Seventeenth Amendment. The Constitution requires that a Senate vacancy ultimately be filled by election, but it also says a state legislature may empower its governor to make a temporary appointment until voters choose a replacement. That means the appointment power is optional, not automatic, and states can write different rules. South Carolina is one of the states that allows a temporary gubernatorial appointment. That is why Gov. Henry McMaster could appoint Darline Graham Nordone after Lindsey Graham’s death, with a special election still scheduled to let voters choose who serves the rest of the term. Other states have chosen a different system. Kentucky, for example, changed its law in 2024 so a Senate vacancy must be filled only by special election, with no interim appointment. A few other states also withhold that power from governors, while some states allow appointments but add conditions, such as requiring the appointee to come from the same political party as the departing senator. So the difference is not federal favoritism or a different constitutional rule for each state. It is a state-by-state legal choice made under the same constitutional framework: every state must hold an election, but each state decides whether its governor may temporarily fill the seat in the meantime.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 21

Darline Graham said Monday she will seek a full six-year Senate term in November after being appointed last week to fill Lindsey Graham’s seat through January 2027.
In her first interview since her brother’s July 11 death, Graham said she wants to carry on his legacy but center her campaign on groceries, gas, health care and insurance rather than foreign policy.
South Carolina’s first female U.S. senator said she feels "inner peace" about the role despite the pressure, calling her brother "my rock" after his sudden death at 71.
Graham comes to the Senate from South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind, where she has served since 2019 overseeing a $90 million budget.