Darline Graham Nordone: Lindsey Graham’s sister and interim US senator
The Guardian – US News
theguardian.com
Summary
Nordone was 13 when brother became her legal guardian – and was a key presence as he rose in the Republican ranks When Lindsey Graham was in college, his parents died, just over a year apart. Coined the “widow’s succession”, the practice most commonly involved spouses temporarily filling their husband’s seat until a successor was elected – a path that helped open Congress to more women in the 20th century. Upon being sworn in on Tuesday, Nordone will make history as the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate. She could play that role if necessary.” He did not win the Republican nomination, losing to Donald Trump – a rival he had once mercilessly criticized before later becoming one of the president’s closest Senate allies and a frequent golf partner. The chamber is also locked in negotiations over the National Defense Authorization Act, and pressure from Trump to pass controversial voting legislation that lacks support among Republicans . In 2000, the Democratic governor of Missouri, Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash while campaigning for a seat in the US Senate . He posthumously won the election and his widow, Jean Carnahan, was appointed to serve in the Senate until a special election in 2002, which she lost. One of the most controversial family appointments came in 2002, when then Alaska governor Frank Murkowski named his daughter, Lisa, then a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, to the US Senate seat he had vacated. While governors often look to fill Senate vacancies with experienced politicians, that is not always the case. At the time of his death, Graham was seeking a fifth Senate term, having won the Republican nomination only last month.
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Nordone was 13 when brother became her legal guardian – and was a key presence as he rose in the Republican ranks When Lindsey Graham was in college, his parents died, just over a year apart. But he worried most about his sister, who, at 13, was suddenly an orphan. Graham became her legal guardian – and later adopted her so she could receive his benefits through his service as an air force lawyer. On Monday, Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s Republican governor, announced that the late senator’s younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, would fill the Senate seat he held until his sudden death on Saturday night, aged 71. Continue reading...
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