Republicans have begun scrambling to find a temporary and permanent replacement for Mr. Graham, who won South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary in June and was expected to be re-elected to a fifth term in November.
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Hours after the death of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, President Donald Trump said Sunday he had a candidate in mind to replace him, but declined to name him out of respect for Graham.
“There are some people who think it’s great, but I don’t want to talk about signing Lindsay right now because it’s too early,” the president said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “I don’t want to talk about anyone, but there are some people I think are really good.”
Under South Carolina law, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has until early January to appoint someone to take over Mr. Graham’s post.
The law also provides for an election process to permanently select Mr. Graham’s replacement. The special Republican primary election will be held on August 11th, and candidates wishing to run for the Senate can apply to run from July 21st.
Sen. Tim Scott (RS.C.), who served as a lawmaker with Mr. Graham, said on Sunday he had no idea who Mr. McMaster would appoint to replace him.
“I know there are at least one or two members that our governor, Henry McMaster, would consider,” Scott told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, before adding, “It’s hard to swallow that life moves so fast and the party never stops.”
Regardless of who McMaster chooses as the interim appointee, Scott said, “I think an open primary process would be in the best interest of South Carolinians.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.) is strongly considering running for the currently vacant seat, according to a person familiar with her thinking. Mace ran unsuccessfully for governor in the state’s June primary.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R.S.C.) publicly stated in an X post today that he will not run for office, citing conversations with the President and members of the House Minority Republican Party.
“Today, I was grateful to speak with President Trump as I remembered our mutual friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham. I assured him that my goal is to remain in the House and maintain a two-vote majority of the American people!!!” Wilson wrote on social media.
Another potential candidate is Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evett, who just ran for governor but lost in the runoff primary.
A source close to Evett told NBC News that the lieutenant governor and those close to her are still “in shock” at the news of Graham’s death, but that Evett received “dozens of calls and emails” on Sunday urging her to jump into the Senate race.
The president supported Evette in May’s gubernatorial election, but it was unclear whether she would be elected president in the ongoing Senate race. A source close to the lieutenant governor said some of the calls and messages he received were from “organizations with political involvement at the federal level.”
Mark Lynch, a South Carolina businessman who challenged Graham in the Republican primary for Senate earlier this year, did not say in a statement whether he planned to run again.
“While we had political disagreements, this is not a political day,” Lynch said. “This day is a day to honor his decades of service and to pray for all who knew and loved him.”
