Darline Graham is far from the first woman to land a nepo seat in Congress.
July 24, 20262:58 PM
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Not every U.S. senator makes history just by taking the oath of office. Darline Graham, who wrapped her first full week on the job Friday, has already done so twice over. Appointed to finish the term of her brother Lindsey Graham, who died this month at 71, Darline is the first person to directly succeed a sibling in the Senate’s 237-year history. She’s also South Carolina’s first female senator.
Yet despite her novelty, Graham is also part of a long tradition. Since the early 20th century, sitting lawmakers’ deaths have often cleared the way for more women to become members of Congress. In many cases, those women were widows appointed by governors or chosen by voters to take over their deceased husbands’ seats. In other instances, they were daughters, state officials, or even the spouses of the governors doing the appointing. And as with Graham, most of them had never before held political office.
