A statement from Graham's office said the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia’s preliminary findings are the senator died of aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

The South Carolina senator’s office said the 71-year-old died after a “brief and sudden illness.”

Graham's death sparks questions on cardiac arrest that is caused by an electrical malfunction in the heart that disrupts its pumping action. The heart then stops beating.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) likely died of a heart attack. The senator had a family his tory, with his father dying from a heart attack at 68.