The news of a U.S. Senator dying in office is not something many Americans are accustomed to hearing, yet the sudden passing of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina last week is not unprecedented. Three hundred and two U.S. senators have died in office since the late 18th century. Nearly two hundred senators have died in office in the 20th century.
Because the U.S. Senate, aka the upper chamber, is considered Congress’s most prestigious and powerful chamber, the passing of one of its members garners national, and sometimes international media attention. Ten U.S. Senators have died in office during the 2000s including Graham. The former United States Air Force Colonel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2003. Among the key committees on which Republican Lindsey Graham served include the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on the Budget. Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.
The death of a sitting elected official especially a United States senator usually has would-be candidates coming out of the woodwork for the purpose of positioning themselves as suitable replacements. When a sitting U.S. senator passes, the seat is filled according to the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the state in which the senator served. Under the U.S. Senate Appointed Senators guidelines, the governor is afforded the opportunity to fill the vacancy with a temporary appointment. This appointee typically holds office until a special election can be held or until the next regularly scheduled statewide election, at which point voters elect a senator to finish out the remaining years. While the appointee should always be the most qualified among the available replacements, that is unfortunately not always the case. In other words, the process of appointment is a highly political endeavor that often elicits a level of meddling from interlopers that undermines the notion of meritocracy and is injurious to the ideal of democracy.
President Donald Trump has made clear he believes South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster should name Darline Graham Nordone, Lindsey’s sister, as his replacement. In the realm of politics, Graham Nordone’s bona fides strikes me as cardboard thin. There is no shortage of qualified candidates in the Palmetto State capable of serving out the remaining years of Graham’s term. Former Lt. Governor Pamela Evette and Rep. Nancy Mace are names that immediately come to mind. Graham Nordone has never held elected office. Serving as a campaign worker, no matter how involved one might have been, does not make said person qualified to hold a seat in the United States senate. But again, the replacement of a senator under these circumstances is a political appointment that has little to do with credentials, stature within the party or the ability to win the seat outright when an election is eventually held.
Judson L. Jeffries, PhD, MHP, is Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University.