WriteTheUS
Official portrait of Darline Graham

United States Senate

Darline Graham

Junior Senator for South Carolina

RRepublicanServing since 2026
Washington office
211 Russell Senate Office Building
Phone
202-224-5972
Official site
www.dgraham.senate.gov
Bioguide ID
G000608

What they did in office

How long have they been in office, and where?

Every federal term on record, with party changes, chamber changes, and breaks in service marked.

First took office
2026
Terms served
1
Years actually served
0
Every federal term on record
YearsChamberSeat PartyTransition
2026–2027SenateSouth Carolina · Class 2Republican

Terms held before federal office — state legislature, local office, or appointed roles — are not in the federal record and are not shown.

State and local office held before Congress is not in any federal dataset and is not shown.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)

Did voters choose them for every term?

Whether each term began with a general election, a special election, or an appointment by a governor.

Terms that did not begin with a general election
YearHow the term beganWhat that means
2026Appointed to the SenateFilled by the governor of South Carolina, not by a general election

An appointed senator holds the seat lawfully and with full powers; the point is only that no ballot was cast for them at the time. A special election is the opposite case — voters did choose, just outside the normal cycle. House vacancies can only be filled by election, never by appointment, which is why appointments appear on Senate pages alone.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)

What power do they hold inside the chamber?

Formal leadership posts — Speaker, Whip, Conference Chair, President Pro Tempore — with the years each was held.

This member has not held a formal leadership post.

Leadership is distinct from committee work. It controls what reaches the floor and when, which is power that never appears in a voting record.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)

Has their family served in Congress before?

Relatives who have also held federal office.

No relatives of this member are recorded as having served in Congress.

A political family is not a finding about anyone's conduct. It is shown because it is on the public record and is otherwise invisible.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)

Who held this seat before them?

Every person who has ever occupied this seat, and the party of each.

People who have held it
33
Seat dates from
1789
Changes of party
7
Everyone who has held this seat, most recent first
YearsNameParty
2026–2027Darline Graham CurrentRepublican
2003–2026Lindsey GrahamRepublican
1956–1956Thomas WoffordDemocrat
1954–2003J. ThurmondRepublican
1954–1954Charles DanielDemocrat
1941–1954Burnet MaybankDemocrat
1941–1941Roger PeaceDemocrat
1941–1941Alva LumpkinDemocrat
1931–1941James ByrnesDemocrat
1925–1931Coleman BleaseDemocrat
1919–1925Nathaniel DialDemocrat
1918–1919William PollockDemocrat
1918–1918Christie BenetDemocrat
1895–1918Benjamin TillmanDemocrat
1877–1895Matthew ButlerDemocrat
1868–1877Thomas RobertsonRepublican
1858–1859Arthur HayneDemocrat
1858–1860James ChesnutDemocrat
1853–1859Josiah EvansDemocrat
1852–1853William De SaussureDemocrat
1850–1853Robert RhettDemocrat
1850–1851Franklin ElmoreDemocrat
1850–1851Robert BarnwellDemocrat
1845–1851John CalhounDemocrat
1843–1845Daniel HugerDemocrat
1832–1843John CalhounDemocrat
1823–1833Robert HayneNullifier
1816–1823William SmithRepublican
1810–1816John TaylorRepublican
1801–1810Thomas SumterRepublican
1798–1801Charles PinckneyRepublican
1796–1799John HunterRepublican
1789–1797Pierce ButlerRepublican

Senate seats are tracked by class, which never changes, so that lineage is continuous. House districts are tracked by number, and redistricting reassigns numbers — the 3rd district of 1850 is not the same territory as the 3rd district today. Read the older entries as the history of the number, not of the ground.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators, current and historical (public domain)

How did they vote on the bills that came to a vote?

Every recorded vote of their career. Most bills never reach a recorded vote at all, so this is not the whole of what Congress considered.

44 recorded votes. The strip runs oldest to newest, left to right; the table below is most recent first.

Votes cast
39
Missed
5
Missed rate
11.4%
On final passage
3
Final passage votes, most recent first
DateBillWhat the bill did Their voteOutcome in this chamber
2026-08-08HR6500An act making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2027, and for otherPresentBill Passed
2026-08-07HR5334An act to impose sanctions and other measures with respect to the Russian Federation, as cYeaBill Passed
2026-07-30SRES817An executive resolution authorizing the en bloc consideration in Executive Session of certYeaResolution Agreed to
Show 41 procedural, amendment, and nomination votes
DateBillQuestionPositionType
2026-09-17PN9994On the NominationYeanomination
2026-09-17PN9994On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-09-17S4668On the Motion to ProceedYeaprocedural
2026-09-15S4668On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedYeaprocedural
2026-09-15HR3633On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedYeaprocedural
2026-09-15PN10933On the NominationYeanomination
2026-09-14PN10933On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-08-08S5271On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedYeaprocedural
2026-08-08PN1078On the NominationYeanomination
2026-08-08PN1078On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-08-08HR6500On the Motion to TableYeaprocedural
2026-08-07HR6500On the Cloture MotionPresentprocedural
2026-08-07PN73011On the NominationYeanomination
2026-08-07HR5334On the AmendmentNayamendment
2026-08-05SJRES187On the Motion to ProceedNayprocedural
2026-08-05PN73011On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-08-05PN932On the NominationYeanomination
2026-08-05PN932On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-08-03HR6500On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedNot Votingprocedural
2026-07-30SJRES181On the Motion to DischargeNayprocedural
2026-07-30SJRES199On the Motion to ProceedNayprocedural
2026-07-29SRES817On the Cloture MotionNot Votingprocedural
2026-07-29HR5334On the Motion to ProceedNot Votingprocedural
2026-07-28HR5334On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedNot Votingprocedural
2026-07-28PN1092On the NominationNot Votingnomination
2026-07-27PN1092On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-23PN9995On the NominationYeanomination
2026-07-23PN9996On the NominationYeanomination
2026-07-23SJRES180On the Motion to DischargeNayprocedural
2026-07-22PN9996On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-22PN9995On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-22PN9993On the NominationYeanomination
2026-07-22PN9993On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-22PN9381On the NominationYeanomination
2026-07-21PN8518On the NominationYeanomination
2026-07-20PN9381On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-16SJRES198On the Motion to ProceedNayprocedural
2026-07-16PN8518On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-15PN9304On the NominationYeanomination
2026-07-15PN9304On the Cloture MotionYeaprocedural
2026-07-14S4784On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedYeaprocedural

Most roll calls are procedural, not final passage. A vote against a motion to recommit is not a vote against the bill. Final passage is shown by default; procedural votes are behind the toggle.

Source · Voteview, UCLA — complete roll calls from the 1st Congress

What passed without anyone going on the record?

Bills their chamber approved by voice vote or unanimous consent, where no individual position was ever recorded.

Bills passed with no recorded vote
76
Passed by voice vote or unanimous consent, Senate
DateBill
2026-09-17SRES 816 A resolution honoring 35 years of independence for the countries of Central…
2026-09-16SRES 847 A resolution commending and congratulating the Pennsylvania State University…
2026-09-14SRES 849 A resolution expressing support for the designation of the week of September 11…
2026-08-07SRES 815 A resolution commending the Chicago Cubs baseball teams as it celebrates its…
2026-07-29SRES 608 A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that Ghislaine Maxwell should…
2026-07-27SRES 781 A resolution commemorating June 19, 2026, as "Juneteenth National Independence…
2026-07-15SRES 772 A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that under no circumstances…
2026-07-15SRES 799 A resolution expressing the condolences of the Senate and honoring the memory…
2026-07-14SRES 798 A resolution designating June 2026 as "Great Outdoors Month".
2026-07-14SRES 742 A resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the United States Forest…
2026-06-24SRES 741 A resolution designating May 2026 as "National Wildfire Preparedness Month".
2026-06-22SRES 768 A resolution commemorating the anniversary of the antisemitic attack on…
2026-06-22SRES 761 A resolution designating June 23, 2026, as "Social Media Harms Victim…
2026-06-16SRES 444 A resolution condemning the dictator of the People's Republic of China, Xi…
2026-06-03SRES 751 A resolution designating May 2026 as "ALS Awareness Month".
2026-06-01SRES 727 A resolution supporting the designation of May 29, 2026, as "Mental Health…
2026-05-21SRES 676 A resolution recognizing and honoring National Mushroom Day and the…
2026-05-14SRES 706 A resolution expressing support for the designation of April 2026 as "National…
2026-05-14SRES 526 A resolution withholding the pay of Senators if a Government shutdown occurs.
2026-05-14SRES 680 A resolution commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Columbine Day of Service…
2026-05-13SRES 711 A resolution expressing support for the designation of May 2026 as "National…
2026-04-30SRES 708 A resolution amending rule XXXVII of the Standing Rules of the Senate to…
2026-04-28SRES 668 A resolution designating April 2026 as "Second Chance Month".
2026-04-15SRES 627 A resolution designating March 5, 2026, as "National Slam the Scam Day" to…
2026-03-27SRES 647 A resolution designating March 21, 2026, as "National Osceola Turkey Day".
2026-03-25SRES 648 A resolution honoring the memory, service, and sacrifice of Master Sergeant…
2026-03-21SRES 372 A resolution honoring the life of Kansas City, Kansas police officer Hunter…
2026-03-21SRES 425 A resolution honoring the life of Hays, Kansas police sergeant Scott Heimann.
2026-03-16SRES 629 A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr.…
2026-02-25SRES 602 A resolution supporting the United States Olympic and Paralympic Teams in the…

No individual position exists for these. This member's absence from the list above is not a fact about them — it is a fact about how the chamber disposed of the bill.

A large share of legislation passes this way. Absence from this member's vote list does not mean absence from the chamber's work.

Source · Congress.gov actions feed

Did they vote to weaken bills they then voted for?

Amendment votes paired with the final passage vote on the same bill.

Bills with both votes
1
Positions differed
1
Amendment vote beside final passage, same bill
BillOn the amendmentOn passage DateOutcome
HR5334
On the Amendment
NayYea2026-08-07Bill Passed

Both votes are shown side by side with no characterisation. Amending a bill is ordinary legislating; the pairing is shown because it is otherwise invisible, not because it is an accusation.

Source · Voteview roll calls joined to Congress.gov amendment records

How have they voted on the issues you care about?

Their final-passage votes grouped by policy area, with the outcome of each bill.

Final-passage votes by policy area
Policy areaYeaNayNot votingTotal
Congress1001
International Affairs1001
Economics and Public Finance0001
Congress — 1 votes
DateBillPositionResult
2026-07-30SRES817 An executive resolution authorizing the en bloc consideration in Executive SessiYeaResolution Agreed to
International Affairs — 1 votes
DateBillPositionResult
2026-08-07HR5334 Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026YeaBill Passed
Economics and Public Finance — 1 votes
DateBillPositionResult
2026-08-08HR6500 Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027PresentBill Passed

How this is calculated Counts of Yea, Nay, and Not Voting on final-passage votes, grouped by the bill's CRS policy area. Nothing is weighted and no direction is scored — these are counts.

A vote on a bill is not a position on an issue. Members vote against bills they support over cost, over an unrelated provision, or over process. Read the individual votes rather than the totals.

Source · Policy areas assigned by the Congressional Research Service and published through the Congress.gov API. This site uses the CRS classification and does not create its own.

How does this compare with the rest of their delegation?

The same final-passage votes, alongside how the other members from their state voted.

Scott
67%

Share of final-passage votes where both cast the same position.

Recent final-passage votes across the South Carolina Senate delegation
DateBillGraham NordoneScottResult
2026-08-08HR6500PresentYeaBill Passed
2026-08-07HR5334YeaYeaBill Passed
2026-07-30SRES817YeaYeaResolution Agreed to

Agreement or disagreement with colleagues is not a measure of anything. It is shown because it is the comparison a constituent is usually trying to make and cannot easily make anywhere else.

Source · Voteview roll calls joined to the current roster

What did they write, and what happened to it?

Bills sponsored and cosponsored, and how far each one got — enacted, passed one chamber, or died in committee.

Sponsored
3
Became law
0
Cosponsored
58
Most recent sponsored legislation
BillTitle and latest actionIntroduced
NoneUntitled
Amendment SA 6711, under the order of 8/6/2026, agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
2026-07-29
NoneUntitled
Amendment SA 6712, under the order of 8/6/2026, agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
2026-07-29
S 5025Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
2026-07-16

How this is calculated Enacted ÷ sponsored. Both counts shown, not just the ratio.

Most bills die in committee. A low enactment count is the norm, not an outlier.

Source · Congress.gov API, Library of Congress

Did they try to force votes leadership would not schedule?

Discharge petition signatures — the mechanism for pulling a bill out of committee against the leadership's wishes.

Not in the local cache yet. python3 discharge_ingest.py

Source · Office of the Clerk, discharge petition record

What do they have power over?

Committee and subcommittee assignments, with chair and ranking-member roles.

This member holds no current committee assignments.

A committee name says little about what it controls. The jurisdiction is the committee's own description of its remit, and it is what makes the holdings section below meaningful.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain); jurisdiction text as published by each committee

Who pays

Who funds their campaign?

Money raised and spent by their principal campaign committee in the current two-year period, 2025–26, and where it came from.

Not in the local cache yet. FEC_API_KEY=… python3 build.py --live

Every member is shown over the same two-year window. A senator's election cycle runs six years, so a senator's lifetime campaign totals are larger than this; showing two years for everyone keeps the figures comparable across the House and Senate. Contributor employer is self-reported by the donor. It groups individuals who share an employer. It is not a contribution from that company — corporations cannot give to candidates.

Source · Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC API

Who are the people writing the largest checks?

Every individual the FEC itemises, by name, with the employer and occupation they reported.

No itemised individual contributions are on file for this member's principal campaign committee this cycle.

How this is calculated Contributions summed per person across the cycle. The FEC itemises a donor once their total passes $200; below that, no public record names them.

Employer and occupation are self-reported by the donor and are often blank or vague. Street addresses appear in the FEC filing and are deliberately not reproduced here — city and state answer whether money is local without putting anyone's home on a searchable page.

Source · Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemised individual contributions

How much of it comes from the people they represent?

Itemized individual contributions from inside the state, against contributions from everywhere else.

Not in the local cache yet. FEC_API_KEY=… python3 build.py --live

How this is calculated In-state itemized ÷ total itemized. Unitemized small-dollar money has no address on file and is excluded from both.

Source · FEC Schedule A, aggregated by contributor state

Who spends on their behalf without asking them?

Independent expenditures supporting or opposing this member, by outside groups.

No independent expenditures supporting or opposing this member are on file this cycle.

This money is legally beyond the candidate's control and cannot be coordinated with the campaign. It is shown separately from campaign finance for that reason. Spending against a member is listed alongside spending for them.

Source · FEC Schedule E, independent expenditures

Do they run a second committee most people never see?

Leadership PACs are separate from the campaign. They may pay for travel, meals, and contributions to other members.

No leadership PAC is linked to this member in FEC records.

A leadership PAC is legal and common. It is shown because almost no voter knows these exist, not because having one is irregular.

Source · FEC candidate committees, filtered to leadership PACs

Which colleagues do they fund?

Contributions from this member's committees to other members' campaigns — the internal influence economy of Congress.

No payments from this member's campaign to other sitting members' campaigns appear in the itemised disbursements.

Recipients are matched on surname against the sitting roster. A common surname can produce a false match, so this is shown as a name match and linked to the primary filing rather than asserted as a transfer.

Source · FEC Schedule B, recipients matched against the member roster

Who else does their campaign pay?

Where campaign money goes — consultants, vendors, salaries, and any payments to the member's relatives or own businesses.

Not in the local cache yet. FEC_API_KEY=… python3 build.py --live

Payments to relatives are disclosed and are not by themselves improper. They are flagged only where the payee surname matches the member's, and that match is shown as a match, not as a finding.

Source · FEC Schedule B, itemized disbursements

Did they lend their campaign money and get paid back?

Candidate loans to the campaign, and repayments of those loans out of money raised afterward.

No loans to the campaign are on file this cycle.

Source · FEC Schedule C loans and Schedule B repayments

Who lobbies them, and who pays for their events?

Contributions and honorary payments disclosed by registered lobbyists, plus lobbying filings naming their committees.

No lobbyist has disclosed a contribution naming this member in the years on file.

These are disclosures made by lobbyists, not acts by the member. LD-203 covers contributions made to or events held in honour of an official, and a member may be named in one without having been involved in the payment.

Source · LDA.gov. Senate Office of Public Records cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from LDA.gov.

Conduct with public trust

What do they own, and what have they traded?

Assets, liabilities, outside income, and individual securities transactions — disclosed because they hold federal office.

Senate financial disclosures are filed with the Senate Office of Public Records. That system has no bulk feed, so this page links to the search rather than reproducing filings.

Amounts are reported as ranges, not exact figures — that is how the form works. Holdings owned by a dependent child are excluded from this site entirely.

Source · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House. Ethics in Government Act and STOCK Act filings.

Did they disclose their trades on time?

The STOCK Act requires a transaction to be reported within 45 days. This is the gap between each trade and its filing.

Not in the local cache yet. python3 fd_ingest.py --years 2025 2026 --parse-ptr

How this is calculated Filing date minus transaction date, in days. Statutory deadline is 45. Each trade shown individually; no average, because one 300-day filing and nine on-time ones is not the same as ten 30-day filings.

A late filing is a fact against a statutory deadline. The Ethics Committees, not this site, determine whether a late filing is a violation.

Source · Computed from filing dates in House Clerk PTR documents

Do their holdings overlap what their committees decide?

Committee jurisdiction on one side, disclosed holdings and contributor industries on the other.

Not in the local cache yet. python3 fd_ingest.py && FEC_API_KEY=… python3 build.py --live

These two lists are placed side by side and nothing is asserted about the relationship between them. An overlap is not evidence of wrongdoing. The reader draws the conclusion; this site does not.

Source · Committee jurisdictions from congress-legislators; holdings from House Clerk filings; industries from FEC filings

Who paid for their travel?

Trips funded by private parties rather than the taxpayer or the campaign — who paid, where, and what it cost.

Not in the local cache yet. python3 travel_ingest.py

Source · House Clerk gift and travel disclosures

How do they spend the taxpayer money for their office?

Quarterly office accounts — staff salaries, travel, equipment, and taxpayer-funded constituent mail.

The Senate publishes a separate semi-annual report.

Franked mail volume is shown against the election calendar because the timing is the thing that is otherwise invisible.

Source · Statement of Disbursements of the House, quarterly

What did they request for their district?

Community Project Funding requests — members must publish these, usually on their own sites where few people find them.

Not in the local cache yet. python3 earmark_ingest.py

Source · House Appropriations Committee member request disclosures

Has any authority investigated them?

Proceedings before the House or Senate Ethics Committees, the Office of Congressional Conduct, and FEC enforcement matters.

Not in the local cache yet. python3 ethics_ingest.py

Only findings by bodies authorised to make them appear here, always attributed to that body. An empty section means no proceedings are on file — which is the ordinary case, not a gap in the record.

Source · House Ethics, Senate Ethics, OCC referrals, FEC MURs

Check it yourself

Where does all of this come from?

The systems of record behind this page. Go and check them — that is the point. Sections drawing on other sources name them in their own footers.

Source · Primary documents, government systems of record

Where are their local offices?

District and state offices — the ones that answer their own phones.

No local offices are listed for this office.

Mail to Washington passes through irradiation screening and can take weeks to arrive. For anything time-sensitive, the local office is the working address.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)

Where do they speak publicly?

Official accounts of the office.

No official accounts are listed for this office.

These are official office accounts. Personal and campaign accounts are not in the federal dataset and are not listed.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)

How do I contact this office?

The office's own contact form, phone, and Washington address.

No contact form is listed for this office in the public roster. Their official site carries one.

This opens the official www.dgraham.senate.gov site. WriteTheUS does not see, store, or send what you write there.

Congressional offices weigh mail from their own constituents. Nothing written here passes through this site.

Source · unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain)