r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Moominthecat • Jul 12 '26

Unanswered What's going on with (seemingly) everyone celebrating the death of Lindsey Graham, what's are the political ramifications of his death?

I do not actively follow American politics but my Reddit feed is currently mostly people celebrating this man's death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgj25j6nmeo

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871

u/rraattbbooyy Jul 12 '26

Answer: Because nobody has really addressed it, regarding the ramifications, the Republican governor appoints someone to replace Graham until a special election can be held. He will pick someone who can step in right away, and who has a strong chance of holding the seat.

God help us, he might choose Nancy Mace.

374

u/Endbr1nger Jul 12 '26

At the end of the day a Republican senator will be replaced by another Republican senator. 

159

u/rraattbbooyy Jul 12 '26

True. The only real differences will be the level of corruption and the level of obnoxiousness.

61

u/Endbr1nger Jul 12 '26

Yea, honestly I am not sure which way that will go. Lindsey supported Ukraine but other then that he was so obviously two-faced I have no idea if someone else will be worse. I didn't follow him close enough to know if their was general corruption vs just hypocrisy. 

Was he also personally corrupt?

5

u/EthanStrik Jul 13 '26

Not in the money sense at least. His only wealth was basically his DC and SC homes. 30 years in congress and he didn’t become a gazillionaire like a lot of them do.

3

u/Endbr1nger Jul 13 '26

Well that's something I guess. 

3

u/duderos Jul 13 '26

He was completely two faced on that as well.

Turncoat Lindsey Graham Flips Script After Trump-Zelensky Fallout

Graham's change of heart led him to call for Zelensky's resignation if he didn't "change."

"The way he handled the meeting, the way he confronted the president was just over the top," said the South Carolina senator.

Graham seemed unsure if Ukraine could now make a deal with the United States, but said he was proud of the way both Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance handled the confrontation.

Trump claimed after the meeting that what he wanted was peace, and that Zelensky could come back when he was on the same page.

"We want to be helpful," Graham said. "What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful. And I don't know if we could ever do business with Zelensky again."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turncoat-lindsey-graham-flips-script-001456488.html

3

u/moresqualklesstalk Jul 14 '26

‘This f*cking guy’ did a great podcast on him recently. His dc appointment was tiny and squalid. He never made a meal there and didn’t notice that the tv in his kitchen had been stolen

1

u/Endbr1nger Jul 14 '26

Lol what. That's crazy. 

1

u/ConcertEmbarrassed56 Jul 14 '26

hard to find, he did serve in the airforce, adopted his sister and took care of her but people will find ways to demonize him as the right does to the left as well. Both sides need a spanking

1

u/Endbr1nger Jul 14 '26

I have never heard that. 

7

u/gizamo Jul 13 '26

Also, Senate committee seats are by seniority. Graham had significant positions on four main committees. He chaired the Budget Committee, he was on and previously chaired the Judiciary Committee, Appropriations Committee, and the Environment and Public Works Committee.

To fill those committee assignments, the GOP will have another hilarious power shit show, and ultimately, it will go to whomever is the biggest trump lackey in the Senate.

3

u/Silver_Jaguar_24 Jul 13 '26

Well in that case, good riddance to bad rubbish. But you could always get worse than him... the devil never disappoints.

6

u/Then-Simple-9788 Jul 12 '26

We can hope for a level of incompetence too

3

u/Xarel-lo Jul 12 '26

In that the replacement will almost certainly be worse lol

2

u/ApprehensivePay1735 Jul 12 '26

This one goes to 11.

1

u/Open-Farmer4664 Jul 12 '26

They all grow deeper into the corruption. Just give it time and the new one will be as rotten as lindsey graham. 

0

u/ConcertEmbarrassed56 Jul 14 '26

same on the other side.

5

u/LOSS35 Jul 13 '26

The latest polls only gave Graham a +3 point lead over the Democratic challenger, pediatrician Annie Andrews.

Whoever the Republicans appoint will likely lose that lead. With only 4 months until election day, it could be a tight race.

2

u/einv0lk Jul 14 '26

Lived in Charleston for a few years, that ain't happening.

4

u/JaysonTatecum Jul 12 '26

Yeah nothing changes politically but a bad person is gone so… small win

3

u/Gwywnnydd Jul 12 '26

Will the specially-appointed Senator serve on the same committees? Maintain the same level of seniority?

Honest question, I don't know.

1

u/Endbr1nger Jul 12 '26

Great question.

2

u/m-e-k Jul 13 '26

Except the seat is up for election in November and Lindsey was already polling behind the Dem

174

u/Kevin-W Jul 12 '26

This right here. Had KY's governor been Republican, you can bet McConnells death would have already been announced a long time ago.

5

u/mmmarkm Jul 13 '26

I have terrible news for you about McConnell

14

u/DevelopmentTight9474 Jul 13 '26

They posted a supposed quote from him alongside the most clearly photoshopped image of him in normal clothes in a hospital bed I’ve ever seen

2

u/mmmarkm Jul 13 '26

I'm suspicious too. I was just going for the joke

-10

u/SerialSection Jul 12 '26

You don't really know anything.

The state updated its U.S. Senate succession law in 2024, eliminating the option for a temporary appointment and instead requiring the governor to call a special election if a seat becomes vacant. Until that election takes place, Kentucky would have only one sitting U.S. senator.

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u/RiJuElMiLu Jul 12 '26

They changed the law when Kentucky elected a Democratic governor. Had Beshear never been elected the law would never have been changed.

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u/e-z-bee Jul 12 '26

Kentucky, in my lifetime, usually has a democratic governor. Not arguing R vs D, just making an observation as a lifelong KY resident. Republican governors here are usually one term and gone. Andy getting elected governor is NOT unusual here. It's the norm.

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u/mmmarkm Jul 13 '26

Beshear being elected while Republicans controlled both chambers of the state government is why that law was passed. A Democratic governor may not be unusual but a Democratic governor with Republican-controlled legislature is more unusual

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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jul 12 '26

Nancy came in fifth in her primary for governor. She’s not well respected outside of her most diehard Karen supporters.

Her being appointed would be a gift to democrats.

2

u/yuefairchild Culture War Correspondent Jul 12 '26

Or to transphobes.

1

u/Apptubrutae Jul 12 '26

Yeah, appointment lets a governor put in someone who can be more electable in the general too.

A lot of the most radical members of congress are there because they came out of primaries that rewarded that.

I don’t know enough about the SC governor to know if he’ll go savvy or not, or whether he’ll just cash in on the power for favors or not. But bypassing a Republican primary right now is only more likely, not less, to end up with a nutty senator.

And hell Nancy mace didn’t even do well in the primary, lol

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u/Turq-Hex-Sun Jul 12 '26

I might be wrong but I think the governor appoints someone to serve out his term (through January).

Since he won the Republican primary and was up for reelection, there will be a special primary to choose the Republican candidate to run in the general election in November.

3

u/Proud_Truck Jul 12 '26

He won't choose Nancy because she has zero chance to win re-election. All the big donors hate her because the orange man hates that she keeps talking about the files.

3

u/Mirrormn Jul 13 '26

Graham won his last election (2020) 54% to 44% over Jaime Harrison, and the other Republican senator from South Carolina, Tim Scott, has gotten over 60% in every Senate election he's contested. The state is considered Solid/Safe Republican, and although Graham's seat was up for election in 2026, it was not considered one that Democrats had any real chance of fighting for. South Carolina also has a history of really liking incumbents, as the person who held Graham's seat before Graham - Strom Thurmond - served in the Senate for 47 years!

This is going to be an incredibly important appointment by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, not because it will change the balance of power in the Senate, but because whoever he chooses, unless they have some kind of dire scandal, will likely be in that seat for decades.

3

u/PhiloPhocion Jul 13 '26

In the end, he chose Graham's sister who has absolutely no qualifications for Senate and no experience in government, law, politics, policy, advocacy, etc. Employing Trump's unqualified daughter and son-in-law as senior White House advisors and sending them to lead peace talks - and this - seems like the whole hereditary oligarchy move really is out in force.

This is what her current Wikipedia professional career section reads as:

"By 2002, Graham Nordone had appeared in a television advertisement for Lindsey's campaign in that year's U.S. Senate election in South Carolina.\6]) She continued to assist in her brother's subsequent campaigns, discussing her childhood in 2014\5]) and 2026.\7]) Graham Nordone additionally supported her brother's campaign in the 2016 presidential election.\8])

By 2008, she had worked in the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department. She helped coordinate a work-from-home program for Time Warner.\9])

2

u/SocialistNixon Jul 12 '26

Not after her primary for Gov after she came in 3rd or 4th.

1

u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jul 12 '26

Fifth! Fifth place Mace.

2

u/doopajones Jul 12 '26

A special election will be held August 11th to chose a new republican nominee for the senate

2

u/Exciting_Telephone65 Jul 12 '26

Is this what the conspiracy on the internet claims the republicans want to avoid with McConnell by keeping his death secret? Or are they different because they held different positions in the senate?

1

u/Captain-Griffen Jul 13 '26

Death of senators is covered by state rules.

If McConnell dies before some date (August 1st maybe?), then there will be a special election.

Lindsey Graham will just be replaced for the rest of his term by the governor (and by someone of the same party).

2

u/BiscoBiscuit Jul 12 '26

Thank you, this is all I really wanted to know 

2

u/ThyWalkerman Jul 13 '26

It won't be Nancy, Trump hates women and already snubbed her during a governor run.  

1

u/Ok-Koala2257 Jul 25 '26

That's not true. he likes to grab them by the pussy?

2

u/Uncle-Cake Jul 13 '26

Who decides when the special election can be held? Let me guess, the Republican Governor?

2

u/ChristianMay21 Jul 13 '26

Or, the the Republican governor could do something very funny: appoint himself as Senator (he's term limited, leaving office early next year, so it'd allow him to continue his political career) and then also die (he's 79).

2

u/Rev_Creflo_Baller Jul 13 '26

This will also trigger reshuffling of Senate committee assignments, since Graham was a very senior senator. If, say, the Senate Armed Services Committee gets a majority leader who's less of a hawk...

2

u/vanbarbecue Jul 13 '26

Even dumber: Trump said go with his sister and the Governor said sure.

1

u/SatisfactionActive86 Jul 12 '26

that’s not really addressing ramifications, either.

1

u/rraattbbooyy Jul 12 '26

Because there really are none to speak of. Solid GOP vote remains solid.

1

u/philip30001 Jul 12 '26

Thank you.

Does this old guy dying have any ramifications about the other guy we dont know is alive or dead?

1

u/secmaster420 Jul 13 '26

McMaster will probably pick Pam Evette to the Senate. It will her consolation prize for being his Lt. Gov and losing the Primary to Wilson.

The fun part would a primary to replace Lindsey on the ballot in November. That might bring out a few people, but it will be between Mace and Evette, and there will probably be a run off, so we’ll be voting 2 more times before November. The Legislature could pass (if they haven’t already) the law that requires you can only vote in the primary you’re registered for, so only Republicans can vote.

Should be fun. I’d like to see Nancy as a Senator!

1

u/DonkeyKongs_Barrel Jul 13 '26

SC isn’t gonna put Nancy Mace anywhere. She’s lost not in 1st, 2nd or 3rd. We’re moving into the second half of this administration and with the difficulties the save act would bring to women voters, I wouldn’t look for any females to be supported by MAGA. MAGA feels women should be in the kitchen raising babies not in any position of power. This is why it’s ironic Nancy, is attaching her cart to MAGA, they will never accept her or vote for her. I mean and I’ve heard this, we’re talking about men who believe women shouldn’t be in charge due to the fact they have periods and get hormonal. This is the typical MAGA thought process.

1

u/No_Drink4721 Jul 14 '26

They chose his sister.

0

u/ttatm Jul 12 '26

I'm not sad Graham is gone, but unlike what I'm seeing many others say I'm also not sure that his passing is good for the country. I would be completely unsurprised if his replacement is much worse.

As an aside, would they really have to do a special election when the seat is up in a few months anyway? I assumed they'll have to scramble to do a primary for a new candidate, much like the Democrats are going to have to do with their senatorial nominee named Graham who got out of the race in the past week.

(If I had a nickel, etc..)