The Race to Fill Lindsey Graham’s Seat Is Already On

Republicans were lining up — or at least publicly voicing their interest — on Sunday to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina as Gov. Henry McMaster weighs an interim appointment and Republicans look to a special election for a new nominee for the November ballot.

Rep. Ralph Norman is expected to make an announcement Tuesday. “Yes!!” he texted NOTUS when asked to confirm his intentions. He is not seeking reelection to the House.

Rep. Nancy Mace also hinted at a run. One source familiar with her plans said Mace will go into the field with a poll starting Monday.

Graham’s term was up in January; he was seeking a fifth term and won his Republican primary last month. McMaster can appoint an interim replacement for Graham to serve until January, while Republicans will vote in a special election Aug. 11 to select a new nominee for the November general election. A runoff will be held Aug. 25 if no candidate reaches the threshold to get the Republican nomination outright.

McMaster, who is term-limited from returning to the governor’s office, could technically appoint himself to fill Graham’s vacancy. If he did, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette — who has also been floated as a possible interim replacement for Graham — would replace McMaster under South Carolina state laws. Evette unsuccessfully ran for governor, losing a close primary runoff against state Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Evette is meeting with McMaster on Sunday to discuss the Senate appointment, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Evette is also considering running for the full Senate term, one of the sources said.

Whomever wins the special election for the Republican nomination for Senate will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.

When asked about who should replace Graham, President Donald Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he had someone in mind but said he would not share their name out of respect for his longtime ally.

“I have someone that I think would be great, but I don’t want to say it now. Because it’s too soon with Lindsey. I don’t want to even talk about anybody,” Trump said Sunday.

Trump added that he believes McMaster will “do the right thing” but noted that the final decision will be left up to “an election pretty soon.”

In the hours after Graham’s death, speculation over who would fill his seat swirled on social media. Mace finished last in the Republican primary for South Carolina governor, and she did not seek reelection for a fourth term in the House — but she signaled on social media that she might put her hat in the ring for Senate.

“Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in…” Mace posted to X on Sunday with a clip from the movie “The Godfather Part III.”

Mace’s post sparked immediate backlash from her House colleague Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York), who called it “grotesque” and claimed Mace is “completely unfit to serve.”

“Literally no one is pulling you back in,” Lawler wrote on X. “Taking glee over the potential of becoming a Senator because of a vacancy created by the sudden death of your colleague is vile.”

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina), the father of gubernatorial candidate Alan Wilson and the longest-serving Republican in the state, was initially interested in being appointed by McMaster and running for the full Senate term, a source close to the congressman confirmed.

Wilson reversed course after speaking with Trump, citing Republicans’ slim House majority.

“I was grateful to speak with President Trump today reminiscing about our mutual friend, Senator Lindsey Graham. I assured him my goal is to remain in the House to keep his two-vote majority for the American people!!!” Wilson wrote on X.

Ed McMullen, the president’s former ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, has also been discussed as a potential interim replacement, according to multiple sources familiar with the process. McMullen was the state director for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in South Carolina.

Graham’s death also created vacancies on multiple Senate committees. Graham served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was a member of the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works committees.

Graham was in line to succeed 92-year-old Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, had Grassley opted against running for the top spot again. Among Republicans, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has the next most seniority on the committee after Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) lost reelection.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the status of the Republican primary election for governor. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette lost her bid to state Attorney General Alan Wilson.