NBC News (“South Carolina governor appoints Lindsey Graham’s sister to finish his Senate term“):

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday appointed Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham, to serve the rest of the late Republican senator’s term, which ends in early January.

“Today, under the law, it’s my duty to and honor to name someone to serve in the place of this irresistible man, this irreplaceable man, this extraordinary man, for the remainder of his term,” McMaster, a Republican, said at a news conference alongside Graham’s sister.

“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed. It’s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now,” he said.

Graham Nordone thanked the governor for selecting her. “It is such an honor,” the senator-designate said. “Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him.”

She will be sworn in at 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

When she’s sworn in, Graham Nordone will become South Carolina’s first female senator.

The appointment came hours after Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he had recommended that McMaster choose her for the temporary post, saying it would be “a fabulous tribute to Lindsey.”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., endorsed Graham Nordone for the seat earlier Monday after Trump’s social media post.

“Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, would be a fantastic pick to serve out the remainder of the senate term,” Scott wrote on X. “After speaking with Darline, there is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country.”

[…]

Graham Nordone is the commissioner for the South Carolina Commission of the Blind, a state agency that provides services to empower “individuals who are blind or low vision” through vocational and independent living training, according to its website.

She attended the College of Charleston, where she studied sociology and earned a bachelor of science degree in 1989.

WaPo (“Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother“):

Darline Graham Nordone, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s younger sister and replacement in the Senate, has a sparse public record of her political views.

[…]

Graham Nordone, a mother of two who is nine years younger than her brother, has never held office and has stayed out of the political spotlight. She long supported Graham’s political ambitions and has worked to help people with disabilities find jobs.

“This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly,” Trump wrote. Scott described Graham Nordone as a “fantastic pick” and said that “there is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country.”

Graham Nordone’s appointment allows her to serve out the remainder of Graham’s term, which is scheduled to end in January. It is unclear whether she plans to run in the Aug. 11 special primary to replace him on the ballot to serve a full six-year term in the Senate.

The 17th Amendment provides,

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This would seem to require the governor to call for a special election, but the second clause seems to overwhelm the first. As the Senate’s “Appointed Senators (1913-Present)” page notes,

If a vacancy occurs due to a senator’s death, resignation, or expulsion, the Seventeenth Amendment allows state legislatures to empower the governor to appoint a replacement to complete the term or to hold office until a special election can take place. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Some states require a special election to fill a vacancy. A few states require the governor to appoint a replacement of the same political party as the previous incumbent.

As to Nordone’s qualifications and the charge of nepotism, which I saw quite a bit on social media yesterday, this is hardly unprecedented. The practice of wives who have been appointed to fill out the terms of their dead husbands, so-called “widow succession,” is longstanding. Names like Jean Carnahan and Mary Bono come to mind. Few of them had more political experience than Nordone, who was active in her brother’s political career.

Do I think this is good practice? No.

Presuming she doesn’t run for the permanent seat, though, it does have the upside of not having the governor give a crony a leg up on winning that contest.