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by WILL FOLKS
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While all of Washington, D.C. was watching and waiting for news about one United States senator’s declining health, it was evidently the health of another they should have been keeping an eye on.
U.S. senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina – one of the American Republic’s most aggressively unrepentant, neoconservative warmongers – passed away on Saturday evening (July 11, 2026) after a “brief and sudden illness,” according to a statement released early Sunday morning from his office.
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement added.
Initial indicators suggest Graham, 71, of Central, S.C., may have died of a heart attack, with emergency responders having reportedly been dispatched to his Washington, D.C. residence on South Capital Street at approximately 8:27 p.m. EDT on Saturday evening in response to reports of the Palmetto State’s senior senator experiencing “chest pains.”
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The call reporting Graham’s condition was placed by a female 911 caller from Baltimore, Maryland.
Five minutes later, at approximately 8:32 p.m. EDT, responders indicated Graham’s residence was locked and that they were attempting to get someone inside to open the door. Two minutes later, the 911 caller inquired as to whether first responders had attempted to knock on the door – apparently believing Graham would answer.
“Yes, repeatedly,” came the response, according to a synopsis of radio traffic associated with the call.
A minute later, at 8:35 p.m. EDT, first responders forced entry into Graham’s residence. Within 20 minutes, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was underway, with Graham being taken by stretcher to George Washington University Hospital at approximately 9:30 p.m. EDT.
An exact time of death has not been released.
According to NBC News, Graham was scheduled to have appeared on its ‘Meet the Press‘ program on Sunday morning – with staffers from his office telling the network there was “no indication the lawmaker was feeling unwell prior to his death.”
Graham’s death prompted a flood of responses from America’s political leaders.
“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!” U.S. president Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!”
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Graham was also hailed by leaders of the foreign nations who continue to benefit from his seemingly unquenchable thirst for military interventionism and adventurism across the globe.
“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X.
“Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X. “He visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia’s full-scale invasion and was here with our people when it was most needed. We remained in constant dialogue, and I will miss our conversations. We met twice in just the past week.”
Graham was in Ukraine the day before he died, his tenth visit to the eastern European nation. According to Zelenskyy, the late senator “briefed me on the work underway in Congress on the relevant bill” and “discussed our urgent air defense needs to protect our people.”
During his visit to Ukraine, Graham toured the production facility of SkyFall, a Ukrainian defense company that specializes in the manufacture of military drones.
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According to the Kyiv Post, Graham “familiarized himself with the development and manufacturing process of heavy bomber drones” and reviewed “new technological solutions that will soon appear on the battlefield.”
“It would be a huge mistake for America not to cooperate with Ukraine in the field of drones,” Graham said during his tour of the facility, which he referred to as a “state-of-the-art enterprise that has huge capacities and produces technologies far more advanced than anyone on the planet.”
Graham served one term in the S.C. House of Representatives from 1992-1994. That fall, he was elected to the U.S. Congress from the Palmetto State’s third congressional district, and in 2002 he ran unopposed for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by the legendary Strom Thurmond.
Graham defeated Democrat Alex Sanders in the 2002 election and was sworn in as senator on January 2, 2003. He held the seat until his death – never facing credible Republican opposition at any point in his lengthy tenure in Washington D.C.
After running unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2016, Graham – an erstwhile #NeverTrumper – flip-flopped and began supporting the president in late 2017 after it became clear he was about to lose his seat in pro-Trump South Carolina. He proceeded to ingratiated himself into Trump’s orbit, and has been one of the president’s top insider allies ever since.
Just last month, Graham defeated several Republican challengers to win the GOP nomination for a another six-year term – although his support among the Palmetto State’s Republican electorate had continued to erode.
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WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
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With Graham’s current term not expiring until January, S.C. governor Henry McMaster will appoint a successor to fill the seat over the next six months, per the S.C. Code of Laws (§ 7-19-20). McMaster could choose any number of temporary replacements – including himself
As for the upcoming six-year term, according to the S.C. Code of Laws (§ 7-11-55), if the nominee of party dies after having been chosen in a partisan primary election, “the vacancy must be filled in a special primary election.”
“The filing period for this special primary election opens the second Tuesday after the death, disqualification, or approval of the resignation for one week,” the statute noted. “The special primary election then must be conducted on the second Tuesday immediately following the close of the filing period. A runoff, if necessary, must be held two weeks after the first primary. The nomination must be certified not less than two weeks before the date of the general election. If the nomination is certified two weeks or more before the date of the general election, that office is to be filled at the general election.”
That would put the date of a special primary election for Graham’s seat on August 11, 2026 – and the date of a potential runoff on August 25, 2026.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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SOUND OFF…
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