Daily Kickoff

Curding DSA’s enthusiasm

Plus, Kaploun's restitution vow draws doubters

Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for WisDems

Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong speaks on stage during Wisconsin Democrats 2026 Convention on June 14, 2026 in Madison, Wisconsin.

By

JI Staff

August 12, 2026

Good Wednesday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we break down the results of yesterday’s primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota, South Carolina and Wisconsin, and talk to New York Jewish leaders who attended a meeting with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to discuss concerns over his inflammatory Israel rhetoric. We report on antisemitism envoy Yehuda Kaploun’s recent pledge, which drew skepticism, to resolve all Holocaust restitution claims in the final years of the Trump administration, and have the scoop on New Jersey congressional candidate Rebecca Bennett’s efforts to distance herself from fellow N.J. Democratic candidate Adam Hamawy. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ken Marcus, Ari Emanuel and Michal Slawny Cababia.

We also have a new on-demand Live Briefing that you can access throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and on our website.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

What We’re Watching

We’re keeping an eye on the last races to be called after last night’s primaries in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Vermont, as well as the special election primaries in South Carolina and Alabama. More below.
President Donald Trump asserted late Tuesday that the U.S. has “total control over the Hormuz strait right now,” even as Oman and Iran engage in talks over control of the waterway. More below from our conversations with Iran experts and observers about the talks and likely outcomes.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

In Tuesday’s newsletter, we wrote that four major Democratic primary races — in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Connecticut — would be key tests of the depth of the anti-establishment, anti-Israel left’s staying power.

So far, the left of the party won three of the four contests, with the notable exception of Democratic Socialists of America-affiliated Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, who fell short against Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley — in the night’s most high-profile race testing whether a socialist can win the Democratic nomination for an executive role in a pivotal battleground state.

Hong, who drew criticism from leading Democrats over her record of comments attacking Thanksgiving, support for defunding the police and overall embrace of the DSA’s radical platform, underperformed the primary polls showing her with a substantial lead in the race. But as Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and leading Democratic officials warned that her nomination could cost Democrats the governorship, her lead dissipated amid concerns about her electability come November.

Of note: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the two leading members of the ideological left in Congress, declined to endorse Hong’s campaign.

The establishment’s unified — and effective — show of force against Hong offered a stark contrast to party leaders’ efforts in Michigan to stop far-left candidate Abdul El-Sayed from winning the nomination. In that race, party leaders were more equivocal in their support of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) declining to support Stevens’ candidacy despite their similar political backgrounds. Even Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who offered a late endorsement to Stevens, didn’t go after El-Sayed’s electability like Evers has in his comments speaking out against Hong.

The socialist speed bump in Wisconsin, however, was seemingly the only exception to an overall dominant showing from progressive candidates, highlighted by the left’s successes in Minnesota.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Trust, but verify

Rabbis hope ‘open, honest dialogue’ with Mamdani brings belated change in Israel rhetoric

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a food distribution center on July 27, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A roundtable with New York City rabbis held at City Hall on Monday gave participants a chance to voice growing concerns about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Israel rhetoric they felt had before gone unheard — with several attendees telling Jewish Insider the strong collective message, and Mamdani’s reaction, gave them hope he would change tack, JI’s Will Bredderman and Matthew Kassel report.

Airing concerns: Multiple attendees of the meeting told JI they viewed the gathering as an opportunity to bring their fears directly to the mayor and to demonstrate communal unity amid a period of spiking antisemitic hate crimes. “People talked about their own concerns, their families’ concerns, their congregations’ concerns. I think he heard them,” said one participant, who requested anonymity to speak freely about their ongoing contact with Mamdani’s antisemitism czar, Phylisa Wisdom, and her deputy, Josh Binderman. “When they framed the meeting, they said it was going to be an ‘open, honest dialogue.’”

Read the full story here.

Bonus: The Wall Street Journal reports that Mamdani is facing both “growing discontent from New Yorkers upset with his anti-Israel rhetoric and slights against the business community,” as well as a “fraying” relationship with the New York City Council.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE OF PLAY

Darline Graham, backed by Trump, still faces obstacles in bid to succeed brother in the Senate

Polls show she’s largely unknown to South Carolina voters as she struggles to win a majority of Republican support

Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images

Darline Graham, sister of Lindsey Graham, looks on during her ceremonial swearing in to become a U.S. Senator on July 14, 2026.

By

Emily Jacobs

August 4, 2026

Sen. Darline Graham’s (R-SC) bid to succeed her late brother in the Senate is facing growing skepticism from Republican operatives and lawmakers who say President Donald Trump’s endorsement is unlikely to spare her from a runoff in South Carolina’s special GOP primary next week.

Over the last week, six senior GOP campaign operatives and Republican lawmakers told Jewish Insider that they believe a runoff is all but certain after the Aug. 11 special election primary, with most predicting Graham will not be able to clinch a majority of the vote to avert one as her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), did with his June primary victory.

While Republicans believe Graham will be one of the top two candidates in the race, thus allowing her a spot in the Aug. 25 runoff, they are still unsure whether she will face Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) or Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) in that contest. Those who spoke to JI expressed skepticism that Graham could win a head-to-head showdown, despite having Trump’s coveted primary endorsement.

“The sense that this is going to go to a runoff seems pretty clear,” Doug Heye, a Republican strategist who served as communications director for the Republican National Committee and a deputy communications official for former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), said. “What happens after that is anyone’s guess.”

“Ultimately, it’s going to be a question of what Republican voters in South Carolina want to do and how they view the new Sen. Graham,” he continued. “You can’t really factor in what she’s done yet, but you know what she says she’s going to do. She doesn’t have a high name ID, although that is increasing every day, whereas the others who are running have much higher name ID and not just necessarily in their districts.”

The uncertainty surrounding the race has caused some to worry about Graham entering a competitive election contest, which will require her to develop a full policy platform and hit the campaign trail as she mourns her brother’s recent death.

“It’s being said and unsaid by a lot of people on Capitol Hill right now. Up to this point, most people here have been more concerned about her personally than figuring out her political philosophy, asking if it’s fair to her to put her in this situation,” a Republican senator told JI. “This has got so many consequences. I’ve been very concerned about it. The people who express concern the most are still mainly worried about her personally, which is heartwarming, but the stakes are also very high.”

Four sources noted that Trump’s support for Graham did not deter Norman or Fry from entering the contest, nor has it hurt either of their performances in recent primary polling.

“There really is an appetite for change, but also for someone who is known, who has a proven record,” a GOP campaign source said. “Love them or hate them, folks know what Ralph and Russell’s records look like. Love them or hate them, you know where they stand. Darline is largely an unknown.”

Republican sources pointed to issues around voter turnout, Graham’s ability to fundraise quickly enough on the compressed campaign schedule, her lack of political background or voting record and the possibility of her losing support if portrayed to voters as being anointed to the role.

Darline Graham should be able to benefit from some of the leftover cash in her brother’s campaign account. Lindsey Graham’s campaign filed a statement with the Federal Election Commission after his death reporting $2.3 million in remaining funds.

Lindsey Graham’s campaign was able to transfer some of that money to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP campaign arm, for Darline Graham to use for her campaign, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The figure expected to be transferred is under $1 million, one source confirmed, leaving Darline Graham with a possible cash disadvantage for the primary and the general election, where the Republican nominee will face Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who handily won the Democratic primary in June and has proven to be a strong fundraiser.

Prior to Lindsey Graham’s passing, Andrews drew attention for outraising the incumbent senator in the first two quarters of 2026. Despite the fundraising success, national Democrats declined to commit resources to the race against Graham, which the Cook Political Report continues to rate as solid Republican even after his death.

Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) got behind Norman’s campaign before Graham had entered; once she did, she quickly secured her own endorsements from three members of Senate GOP leadership: Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY); Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR); and Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said after Graham announced her candidacy that he would not be weighing in with an endorsement, though he praised the incumbent senator as a “strong candidate” who “obviously carries on Lindsey’s legacy.”

Beyond those who have already endorsed her, Graham does not appear to have asked her other Republican colleagues in the Senate for their backing, according to two Republican senators and one senior GOP Senate staffer. The senators suggested that perhaps Graham was not in the right frame of mind to ask about endorsements herself, though both senators expressed surprise that no one from Graham’s campaign had made those overtures on her behalf.

“Many of us had never met her before. All I knew was how much Lindsey adored her. He talked about her a lot. He referenced her a lot. He’d take her call whenever it happened to be,” a GOP senator told JI of Graham. “But we don’t have a clue how Republican she is. I don’t have the faintest idea what her basic philosophies are.”

“She hasn’t asked me or the members that I’ve talked to,” one GOP senator told JI on condition of anonymity of Graham seeking out endorsements late last week. “If she isn’t asking and nobody is asking on her behalf, she sure as heck won’t get a lot of them. Maybe she’ll get around to that next week now that she’s on the job full time. It’s kind of a pivotal week, I would say.”

Graham has picked up one House endorsement from Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), who opposes Norman’s candidacy, while Norman has been endorsed by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and former Rep. Bob Good (R-VA). He also has the support of former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who served with Norman in the House.

The slow drip of congressional endorsements have since ground to a halt, as it became clear that Graham’s surprise campaign launch and Trump’s support for her candidacy had not deterred her Republican opponents or hurt their polling numbers.

“Many of us had never met her before [she was sworn in to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term]. All I knew was how much Lindsey adored her. He talked about her a lot. He referenced her a lot. He’d take her call whenever it happened to be,” a GOP senator told JI of Graham. “But we don’t have a clue how Republican she is. I don’t have the faintest idea what her basic philosophies are.”

“She’s still grieving,” a senior GOP campaign official involved with the race told JI. “Nobody wants to be seen hitting someone whose brother literally just died — and then was vaulted into a very public, very national spotlight — but at some point the gloves are gonna have to come off at least somewhat.”

“I suspect that being through what she’s been through the last couple of weeks, reliving his whole life basically in written word and broadcast and even just storytelling, she’s probably getting a pretty good lesson if she’s still forming her positions,” the senator continued. “I doubt she’s 180 degrees from him, but I don’t know what’s in her heart.”

Several Republicans have expressed concern that voters would respond poorly to the idea of Graham running while mourning the loss of her brother. They also worry about the possibility that the contest turns negative and the consequences of that shift.

“She’s still grieving,” a senior GOP campaign official involved with the race told JI. “Nobody wants to be seen hitting someone whose brother literally just died — and then was vaulted into a very public, very national spotlight — but at some point the gloves are gonna have to come off at least somewhat.”

One Republican senator told JI that they were “afraid it could be a brawl before it’s over, especially if her opponent feels like they’re up against a wall and corners her. We know how this goes.”

“If they get to a runoff, at that point, it is a whole new ball game and she’s no longer a grieving sister. She becomes a semi-incumbent obstacle to whoever wants to win,” the senator said. “These things happen faster nowadays. We have short memories.”

The South Carolina senator faced her four leading opponents in a televised debate on Monday evening. Graham was joined on the debate stage by Norman, Fry, former Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) and Mark Lynch, a MAGA-aligned businessman who lost to Lindsey Graham in last month’s primary by 30 points.

The debate was largely respectful, though Graham called out Lynch in her closing statement for repeatedly criticizing her late brother while on stage. “I don’t know if I can rebut, but Mr. Lynch mentioned Lindsey Graham multiple times. I don’t know if he’s just afraid Lindsey beat him and now his little sister is going to beat him, but I just don’t like hearing that,” Graham said.

Graham used the debate to highlight where she and her late brother agree and disagree on policy matters, emphasizing their shared support for the U.S. war in Iran and how they diverge on the filibuster, which Darline Graham said she supports abolishing to pass the Save America Act despite her later brother’s opposition to the move.

It is unclear if the two candidates who advance to the runoff, should one be triggered, will hold another debate.

“Lindsey just made his way through a pretty contentious primary himself, and there is a degree of the primary electorate that was not a fan of his. I think that segment will still be very much adamantly opposed to this because they’ll see it as a continuation of the policies that they don’t support,” a senior GOP campaign source said. “Ralph Norman is a little bit better positioned to capture some of these hardcore conservative voters. I think she’ll have a difficult time even with the president’s endorsement.”

“This is potentially a race where debates could have a real impact, in part because this would be part of her introduction statewide as a candidate,” Heye said. “In moments like that where you have somebody in that situation, it’s very important for the other people on stage, including the moderators, to be appropriately respectful.”

While several Republicans acknowledged Trump’s endorsement as a key booster for Graham, they pointed out that her late brother, who was known to be close to the president, struggled in his own primary.

“Lindsey just made his way through a pretty contentious primary himself, and there is a degree of the primary electorate that was not a fan of his. I think that segment will still be very much adamantly opposed to this because they’ll see it as a continuation of the policies that they don’t support,” a senior GOP campaign source said. “Ralph Norman is a little bit better positioned to capture some of these hardcore conservative voters. I think she’ll have a difficult time even with the president’s endorsement.”

Heye noted to JI that, “Not everything that happens in a Republican primary is about Donald Trump. His endorsement is always a boost, but that’s it.”

Reached for comment, Graham campaign press secretary Abby Zilch told JI in a statement, “Sen. Darline Graham has had to work hard for every single thing she’s ever done — running for the United States Senate will be no different. That’s just one of the many reasons why President Trump has endorsed her and why so many South Carolinians see a true fighter in this campaign.”

analysis

On the 2028 calendar, a mixed bag for Democratic moderates

The biggest red flag for the party — especially among its Jewish and pro-Israel supporters — is its decision to give Michigan Democrats such a pivotal role, given the rise of antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility within the state party ranks

UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 2: Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, speaks during an interview at DNC headquarters in Washington on Sunday, November 2, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

By

Josh Kraushaar

July 27, 2026

For Democrats worried about the party’s left turn, the outcome of the presidential nominating calendar, which was approved by a Democratic National Committee panel on Friday, is something of a mixed bag. (For pro-Israel Democrats, the presence of Michigan taking center stage on the early schedule is already causing heartburn, per reporting from JI’s Matthew Kassel.)

In a boost for centrists, the nomination process is slated to lead with South Carolina, a Southern state that has long been a moderating force in the party’s presidential calendar, largely because of its sizable Black population.

But as Jonathan Martin noted in Politico, South Carolina’s first-in-the-nation status carries some unintended consequences. The state, which has typically voted after Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary, often played the role of choosing the nominee after the field was winnowed down by the earlier states. South Carolina has picked the primary winners in the last two decades: Barack Obama (in 2008), Hillary Clinton (in 2016) and most notably Joe Biden (in 2020) when pundits counted the former vice president out after losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

With South Carolina being moved to the front of the line, the state will end up narrowing down the lineup of candidates rather than having the final say on a shortlist of candidates. The changed primary calendar also puts pressure on moderate candidates to make a strong showing right away: If a leading centrist such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro runs for president, South Carolina suddenly becomes much more of a pivotal state, with outreach to Black voters a necessity.

Nevada will miss out on being the central player under the new calendar, but will still play a key role, holding the first primary in the West just over a week after South Carolina. The state has typically been friendly turf for progressives, given the influence of the state’s culinary union, which organizes workers in the gaming industry. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) easily won the state in 2020 and only lost narrowly to Clinton in 2016, demonstrating his insurgent campaign’s staying power.

The power of the state’s progressive organizers and its large Hispanic population have raised concerns that a far-left candidate such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could emerge as a favorite — a factor that dampened support for its bid to be the first-in-the-nation contest.

But Nevada also is a swing state, and the state’s switch from a caucus to a primary should broaden the Democratic electorate beyond the most committed activists. That two of the most pragmatic and pro-Israel Democrats represent the state in the Senate — Democrats Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto — should also be a silver lining for Jewish Democrats worried about the Democratic Socialists of America factor in the state.

Under the DNC plan, New Hampshire loses its first-in-the-nation-primary status — diminishing its traditional role of thinning out the large field of candidates — but it will still hold the politically pivotal third spot. (New Hampshire Democrats condemned the calendar proposal after it was announced; New Hampshire law requires the state to hold the first presidential primary.)

If New Hampshire ends up accepting its diminished role, it is a likely blow for the more-moderate wing of the party. Even though Sanders won the 2016 and 2020 primaries (in part because he represents the state next door), New Hampshire’s primary hinges less on ideology and more on who can capture the enthusiasm of the exacting voters who treat the process as a state sport every four years.

It’s no coincidence that center-left candidates such as Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) outperformed expectations in 2020, and that a dark horse moderate candidate, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), is polling surprisingly well in a recent statewide survey. If there was a state that a straight-talking centrist such as Rahm Emanuel would need to do well in, it would be New Hampshire.

But with the new calendar, it will be harder for appealing candidates to translate retail buzz in New Hampshire into political momentum, as has happened so often in the past. At a time when algorithmic media and rage-bait virality typically benefit the left, New Hampshire could have served as a corrective against the ideological fads dominating the party. But going third, after two bigger states, makes it tougher for a moderate maverick to emerge.

The biggest red flag for the party — especially among its Jewish and pro-Israel supporters — is its decision to give Michigan Democrats such a pivotal role, given the rise of antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility within the state party ranks. If you’re a Jewish pro-Israel candidate like Shapiro, it will be a headache confronting the radicalism within the party that has been documented thoroughly over the last year.

Michigan is scheduled to be voting fifth in the country on Feb. 22, 2028 — with 115 delegates at stake, the most of the states in the early voting window.

The optimist’s case? The Democratic establishment in Michigan still has some fight left in them, as demonstrated by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s late endorsement of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) against the far-left Abdul El-Sayed in the state’s critical Senate primary that’s become a proxy battle between the party mainstream and the far left. If Stevens prevails, it would underscore party activists aren’t all that representative of party voters.

And, as one senior Democratic official told JI, any successful party candidate will have to confront the issue of antisemitism head on, regardless of whether Michigan plays a key nominating role. In this strategist’s view, having to deal with it early on in a Michigan contest could end up being beneficial in the long run, despite the obvious pitfalls.

Virginia and New Mexico are the two wild cards, with both being added to the early voting schedule. Both states tend to prefer moderates over progressives, but it remains to be seen how their higher-profile roles will shape the nominating process.

All told, there are reasons for centrists to be hopeful about the nominating schedule, especially with the presence of two moderate-minded Southern states in the top five. But the importance of Michigan in the primary calendar threatens to deepen rifts between Jewish voters and the Democratic Party — at the worst possible time.

HONORING GRAHAM

RJC creates Lindsey Graham Statesman Award as Jewish leaders pay tribute

The new award will be given at the group’s yearly leadership summit in August

(Amir Levy/Getty Images)

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attends a press conference on US-Israel relations on February 17, 2025 at the Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel.

By

Emily Jacobs

July 22, 2026

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, announced on Tuesday evening that the RJC would award the inaugural Lindsey Graham Statesman Award at the group’s yearly leadership summit in August, which will be dedicated to the late South Carolina senator after his death earlier this month.

Coleman, a former colleague and longtime friend of Graham’s, made the comments at a virtual event organized by the Israeli-American Council to pay tribute to the late senator’s support for Israel and the Jewish people. The former Minnesota senator was one of several prominent Jewish and pro-Israel figures who gathered to honor Graham’s record of support for the Jewish community.

“To our Jewish community, Lindsey was more than an ally. He was family and he said so himself. Reflecting once on how our community had rallied around him, he put it simply, ‘We are family,’ and he meant it,” Coleman said. “At the RJC leadership summit taking place next month in Las Vegas, we will be dedicating the event in his memory and awarding the first annual Lindsey Graham Statesman Award.”

Coleman said that Graham’s sudden death was a loss for the Jewish community and for the U.S. as a whole, telling attendees, “Our hearts break because Lindsey had so much left to give. He was not finished. There were more fights he wanted to win, more people he wanted to lift up, more good he wanted to do. We were not ready to lose him.”

“Our community is diminished tonight. The United States is diminished tonight, but every one of us who knew Lindsey Graham is richer for it and better for it,” he said.

Attendees at the virtual gathering, which was hosted by IAC CEO Elan Carr, included Dr. Miriam Adelson, the philanthropist and Republican megadonor; Betsy Berns Korn, the former AIPAC president and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut; American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch; Pastor John Hagee, the founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel; and Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad).

Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of slain Israeli American hostage Omer Neutra, made an unscheduled appearance to speak about Graham’s advocacy for their son and other hostages during their captivity in Gaza. Omer Neutra’s remains were taken by Hamas terrorists into Gaza and held there for more than two years after he was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

“Our family came to know Sen. Graham shortly after Oct. 7, when our son, [IDF] Capt. Omer Neutra, was taken hostage,” Orna Neutra said. “From the earliest days of the crisis, Sen. Graham was one of the strongest and most consistent voices in the Senate supporting Israel and calling for the hostages to be released. He spoke clearly about Iran’s role in supporting Hamas and argued that Hamas could not remain in power after the war.”

“Whenever we asked to meet, [Graham] made himself available,” she continued. “He was straightforward and matter of fact. He never told us what we wanted to hear, only what he believed. He offered no false hope. He listened carefully. He asked thoughtful questions, and he treated our concerns with seriousness and respect.”

Orna Neutra recounted a meeting Graham had with several hostage families where he told them, “I wish you were all my constituents. I wish you were all from South Carolina.” She explained that Graham was suggesting “that he wished he could do even more for each and every one of us personally.”

Berns Korn similarly praised Graham for his allyship with the Jewish people and remarked how she would accidentally cross paths with the South Carolina senator almost every time they separately visited the Israeli prime minister’s office.

“To me, to the conference, to the Jewish community, and to the people of Israel, Sen. Graham was more than an ally. He was a true friend,” Berns Korn said. “Friends like Lindsey Graham come along once in a generation.”

“You’d make the long trip, race through the schedule, thinking we’re moving fast, and somehow Lindsey and his staff [were] already there, already briefed, already asking the next question, and already formulating a strategy,” she continued. “That was Lindsey. He was present. He was engaged. He listened carefully and moved with purpose. He built trust with Israeli leaders and American Jewish organizations. He built coalitions across the aisle and developed relationships with communities who valued his wise counsel, judgment, and his leadership.”

Shemtov noted that Norm Brownstein, the veteran Washington lobbyist, was a mutual friend of his and Graham’s, and said that Brownstein “would often tell me that the one thing about Lindsey Graham was that he had a genuine friendship with the Jewish people and a genuine concern for the needs of the Jewish people and for the needs that Israel had, whatever they were, and he always would reiterate that not only in words but in practice.”

“Within darkness, within negativity, there is always the latent opposite. So, as we see dark forces in the political world that are beginning to emerge and expand, sadly, let us not forget the bright ones we’ve been fortunate to know, people like Sen. Lindsey Graham,” Shemtov said. “The Jewish people have survived for millennia through strong faith in God, and through the many agents and messengers that God sent from outside the Jewish community to be our friends, our supporters, and those who reinforced us.”

Deutch, who served in Congress from 2010-2022 as a Democrat, recounted his first experience traveling with Graham after being elected to the House, joining Graham’s delegation to the Munich Security Conference at the invitation of the late Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Deutch praised Graham for his emphasis on bipartisanship while on the international stage.

“Lindsey always understood why it was so important for us to do that together,” Deutch said in a prerecorded address. “When I think about what we’ll miss about him, the way that he stood up for American leadership, understanding that especially how much that leadership was strengthened when we did it together as Americans, Democrats and Republicans standing together, that’s the way that I’m going to remember him.”

The AJC CEO urged attendees “to think about that and reflect upon that in the way that we go about our work, whether we work in the Jewish world, we work in the government or diplomatic world or whether we’re just American citizens who are thinking about how to make the country better for all of us.”

Fingerhut praised Graham for understanding that, “In times of evil, indifference to evil is evil. Neutrality always helps the killer, not the victim.”

“Lindsey Graham always took seriously all those who threaten other people. Lindsey Graham always took seriously all those who threatened the Jewish people,” Fingerhut said. “Lindsey Graham understood the dangers of indifference and neutrality, and Lindsey Graham understood that neutrality helps the killer, not the victim. Lindsey Graham was not neutral. He took sides. He was not indifferent. He was passionate and committed and relentless.”

In Coleman’s remarks, the RJC chairman highlighted Graham’s close friendships with Adelson and her late husband, Sheldon, telling the audience that, “They were always talking. When he [Graham] went into battle, he was comforted by knowing that they would be with him.”

For her part, Adelson spoke of the friendship that she and her late husband, the billionaire casino mogul, shared with Graham over more than three decades, reminiscing about the South Carolina senator’s aversion to gambling and his daily phone calls with her spouse.

“We met Lindsey and — as a physician, I love to see the brain, the eyes are [the window into] our brain — they were so pure and blue. You could see what he was thinking about. He was so honest, with integrity, and Sheldon and me fell in love with him.”

Adelson said that her late husband’s longtime secretary told her that “there was not a day that” Sheldon did not “talk with Lindsey.”

“They talked about Israel,” Adelson said. “Lindsey gave him advice. Sheldon gave him advice, and they had fun.”

She shared that Graham had once opted to meet tourists in the Adelsons’ Las Vegas Sands property rather than gamble in the VIP room alongside the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who had accompanied Graham to visit the couple.

“Instead of playing, he was meeting people,” Adelson said of Graham. “Lindsey loved people, and they loved him from the left, from the right. He was a fantastic person.”

Adelson said that Graham and her late husband were similar in their steadfast commitment to their families, comparing Sheldon Adelson supporting his first wife’s three children from a previous marriage to the late senator adopting his younger sister, Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) after their parents died. Adelson said she hoped to meet Graham’s sister, who was appointed to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term last week and has since announced plans to run for a full term, for dinner in Washington, D.C., in the near future and urged her to “choose life and success” in her new role.

“Know that so many people loved your brother and admired him,” Adelson said before acknowledging that she was tearing up. “He is a good man. Inside the heart, he is such a good man, and I want to tell you, Darline … that I really admired and loved your brother. I miss him.”

analysis

Maine, South Carolina to serve as the next tests for the futures of both parties

These two unexpected nomination fights are serving as a microcosm of both parties’ ideological directions

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner and Troy Jackson stand together during a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus on May 24, 2026 in Orono, Maine.

By

Josh Kraushaar

July 20, 2026

July was scheduled to offer a break from primary politics, but two seismic developments this month — the collapse of scandal-plagued Graham Platner’s campaign in Maine and the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — are forcing both parties to deal with messy internal conflicts as they choose replacements in these key races.

The outcome of the July 25 Maine Democratic convention choosing an alternative candidate to run against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and the Aug. 11 special election primary to choose a GOP nominee for Graham’s seat are offering clarity on the ideological directions of the two parties as the November midterm elections approach.

Already, we’re seeing that Democrats want to nominate a candidate as ideologically similar to Platner as possible, with most of the convention delegates chosen this weekend gravitating towards former state Senate President Troy Jackson, an anti-Israel progressive who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year as a champion of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

As Maine counties completed the process of choosing delegates for the nominating convention, Jackson’s campaign expressed confidence that he rallied enough backers to secure a victory. Most of his leading rivals dropped out of the race on Sunday, indicating that the state party is clearly intent on pushing forward a candidate that shares Platner’s anti-establishment, left-wing worldview but without the personal baggage he brought to the table.

Jackson was the candidate whom Platner preferred to replace him on the general election ballot. Indeed, the Platner camp’s reported demands that the party choose someone who shares his values — even as his own campaign was sinking — caused such a backlash that the Maine Democratic Party’s executive director put out a video rebuking Platner for trying to influence the selection of his own successor.

If Jackson is the nominee, he’ll have to answer why he continued to support Platner even as the candidate’s other scandals piled up around him. Jackson finished in third place in June’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, only winning 21% of the vote in the five-candidate field.

In a sign of where the Democratic Party is headed, most of the leading candidates to challenge Collins sought to underscore their anti-Israel bona fides in the race, even the more-moderate Democrat Nirav Shah, who called Israel’s war against Hamas a “genocide” in a candidate questionnaire.

Meanwhile in South Carolina, there are growing indications that appointed Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), who was tapped to fill the remainder of her late brother’s term, is seriously considering running for the seat herself, and has the president’s endorsement to do so.

That would greatly scramble the internal politics for next month’s primary, which was seen as a wide-open contest between several politically established South Carolina lawmakers. An endorsement of Graham from President Donald Trump would immediately make her the front-runner — given his near-perfect track record in congressional primary endorsements — even as she’d still likely face credible primary opposition.

It’s impossible to guarantee how Graham will end up voting in the Senate, but it’s safe to assume she’ll continue her brother’s hawkish record, maintaining strong support for Israel and Ukraine. Some of the other candidates for the seat — namely Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) — have been less enthusiastic supporters of military spending, and more reticent in aiding Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.

These two unexpected nomination fights are serving as a microcosm of both parties’ ideological directions. Democrats are accommodating their populist left flank, even at the risk of damaging the party’s midterm prospects. Republicans, meanwhile, continue to march to the beat of Trump’s drum, and are fine maintaining the party’s conservative status quo even with rumblings from the isolationist right.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Trump urges Darline Graham to run for full Senate term

The president said he’d give Darline Graham his ‘complete and total endorsement’ if she enters the special election to succeed her late brother

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) makes her way to a swearing in ceremony in the U.S. Capitol after she was sworn in on the Senate floor on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

By

Emily Jacobs

July 17, 2026

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he has asked newly appointed Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) to consider running in next month’s special Senate election for the full term of her late brother’s seat.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had encouraged Darline Graham, who was appointed to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term following his unexpected passing last weekend, to run in the race to succeed Lindsey Graham during her visit to the White House on Thursday for their first meeting since she was sworn in.

The president said that Darline Graham would receive his endorsement should she decide to seek a full term in the Senate.

“During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026,” Trump wrote. “I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey. Darline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a WINNER all of her life, and should she accept, has my Complete and Total Endorsement in the Special Election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina.”

Trump said he has known Darline Graham “for a long time” and called her “a spectacular person, and a true American Patriot. Lindsey was one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, and his sister shares his deep love of our Country, and the State of South Carolina.”

“SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” he wrote. “RUN, DARLINE, RUN!”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced on Monday that he was appointing Darline Graham to serve out the remainder of her older brother’s Senate term, which ends in January. The announcement came hours after Trump publicly declared that Darline Graham was his preferred choice to represent South Carolina on her brother’s behalf until the conclusion of his Senate term.

At the time, Darline Graham had not expressed any interest in running in the special election next month to be the GOP nominee, prompting other Republicans in the state to start engaging with the White House and the National Republican Senatorial Committee about possibly getting into the race.

Two sources familiar with Darline Graham’s thinking told Jewish Insider that she was not interested in running for a full term when she initially agreed to accept the appointment on Sunday. While the sources confirmed she is now considering entering the race, they stressed that she has not made a final decision.

Among those who began fielding calls were Reps. Russell Fry (R-SC), Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) and former Rep. Trey Gowdy.

Mark Lynch, who lost to Graham in last month’s primary by 30 points, has already entered the special election and committed $5 million of his own money to the campaign. Lindsey Graham attacked him for using antisemitic rhetoric during this year’s regularly scheduled GOP primary.

Fry reportedly emerged as a top contender for the president’s endorsement, though roadblocks emerged midweek as it became clear that any House Republican seeking to run for the seat would make it harder for House Speaker Mike Johnson to secure enough GOP votes to secure legislative majorities.

Darline Graham’s office did not respond to JI’s requests for comment.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Lindsey Graham’s sudden death leaves his legislative priorities in limbo

Republican and Democratic senators paid tribute to his legacy, while wondering if anyone will be able to fill the leadership vacuum

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

By

Emily Jacobs

July 17, 2026

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sudden death last weekend is complicating an already difficult dynamic between Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump, as legislators try to muster enough support in the caucus to pass the president’s key legislative priorities.

Graham’s committee chairmanships, vast donor network and his close relationship with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made him a critical leader in Washington whose presence helped move forward multiple bipartisan efforts, especially on foreign policy. He became one of the most geopolitically connected members of Congress, with world leaders and captains of industry on speed dial.

“It’s impossible to fill that void, number one, so I’ll just take that off the table,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Jewish Insider at a press conference at NRSC headquarters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Scott, who represented South Carolina alongside Graham for 13 years, said he has spoken with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) about the challenges Graham’s death creates for the party and detailed several areas where Senate GOP leadership is hoping some of their members will attempt to step in on the late senator’s behalf.

The first of those “three layers,” Scott said, is “the foreign policy front.” The second was Graham’s “budgetary responsibilities” as chair of the Senate Budget Committee. The third area, he said, was “bridging the gap between the two sides of the aisle.”

“Those are the three areas that I know that we’ve been consciously considering,” Scott said. “I have spoken to Leader Thune as well. I think those are three big areas that we’d love to see, probably, a couple people step into.”

On the foreign policy front, Scott noted, “There’s no doubt that when you’re looking at leaders around the world who disagree vehemently with each other, the one guy you might be willing to sit at the table with was Lindsey Graham. He just did a really good job.”

“Frankly, you go to the Middle East and without any question, I’m not sure that there was a bigger, more enthusiastic supporter of the president’s actions in Iran — I happen to be one of them as well — than Lindsey Graham,” Scott said. “[Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Netanyahu] calling him at lunch was kind of fun to watch. I’m a big fan of Bibi myself, and just knowing the relationship that they had when I spoke with Bibi myself years ago, I would say without question, Lindsey Graham’s name always came up. You know why? Because, frankly, he took the time to make the trip there.”

“Whether it’s the European front, the Middle East, or frankly, his enthusiasm around Venezuela, he was always in the midst when it came to solving problems around the world because he believed in peace through strength,” he continued. “It was not just a tagline. It was not just a philosophy. It was embedded in his DNA.”

Scott said Republicans will need to focus on “finding someone who has that passion” that Graham applied to his foreign policy dealings. Graham spearheaded the passage of the second Trump administration’s two reconciliation packages — the One Big Beautiful Bill last July, which made the tax cuts implemented in the first Trump administration permanent and enacted a wide range of spending cuts, and the Secure America Act in June to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“We are living in polarizing times politically. Lindsey Graham was not completely aware of that. He thought you could still find common ground to get something done,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said. “He turned out to be right. Being able to have [Sen. Richard] Blumenthal (D-CT) knocking on the door for Russian sanctions is only possible because Lindsey Graham spends so much time talking to people that vehemently disagree with him on 85% or 90% of topics. Find that one, you march together.”

As to the budget reconciliation process, Scott said, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) would step in as budget chair. “Big shoes to fill,” Scott added.

Scott touted his late colleague’s ability to reach across the aisle and argued that “bridging that gap is going to be really important.”

“We are living in polarizing times politically. Lindsey Graham was not completely aware of that. He thought you could still find common ground to get something done. He turned out to be right. Being able to have [Sen. Richard] Blumenthal (D-CT) knocking on the door for Russian sanctions is only possible because Lindsey Graham spends so much time talking to people that vehemently disagree with him on 85% or 90% of topics. Find that one, you march together.”

As one of the few lawmakers capable of closing the gap between Senate Republicans and the president, Graham became somewhat of a mediator.

“Lindsey left an indelible mark on the Senate, on the nation and on the hearts of his colleagues,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told JI. “At times when senators were at each other’s throats, were angry, Lindsey could cut the tension with a self-deprecating quip that brought everything to a stop and brought people back together again.”

Leading Democrats also paid tribute to Graham’s legislative acumen. “Lindsey was part of every important policy issue and an indispensable player in every Senate ‘gang.’ He was a fierce Republican partisan one day and a key bipartisan ally the next,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said of Graham after his death was announced.

“I don’t know who can play this role going forward. I just don’t see it,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told JI on Sunday of Graham. “He’s just not replaceable. There’s not going to be anyone like him again.”

Graham was involved in every successful bipartisan piece of legislation that Trump has signed into law thus far in his second term. During the Biden administration, Graham was one of the 19 Republican senators who crossed party lines to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and his decision to come out against the bipartisan immigration reform deal organized by Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) has been described as the final death knell that sealed the legislation’s fate.

Graham was also the Republican in Trump’s orbit to whom Senate Democrats would go when trying to settle a legislative dispute or join forces on an issue of bipartisan concern.

“I don’t know who can play this role going forward. I just don’t see it,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told JI on Sunday of Graham. “He’s just not replaceable. There’s not going to be anyone like him again.”

Graham’s passing puts the longtime legislative and geopolitical priorities he fought for in jeopardy.

The South Carolina Republican spent the last five years lobbying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to bring Riyadh into the Abraham Accords. Graham tried to secure an agreement on several occasions under Trump and former President Joe Biden, and said repeatedly that he was on the verge of reaching a deal that would see Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in exchange for Israel recognizing a Palestinian state.

After Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, Graham maintained that Iran ordered the attacks to upend his Saudi-Israeli normalization efforts.

Graham was one of the most outspoken and effective Republican advocates in Congress for increasing military funding. Prior to his death, he had been lobbying the president to get behind the Russia sanctions bill he co-sponsored with Blumenthal, and expressed optimism in his final phone call with Morgan Ortagus, the former deputy presidential envoy for Middle East peace in the second Trump administration, that Trump was coming around to the idea.

Trump said on Tuesday that he was considering supporting the bill, which he has long hesitated to get behind, “in honor of Lindsey.”

“This was his thing, he wanted this more than any other thing. You know how he felt,” Trump said from the White House. “There’s a good chance that it gets done. But they’d like to add Iran. And they’d like to add Hezbollah to it. That’s what I’m hearing.”

Ortagus told JI, “There was not a fight on domestic or foreign affairs that he didn’t want to jump into. If he believed in an issue and believed that a particular policy was the right thing, he really didn’t care about the politics.”

SEAT SHAKE-UP

Rep. Russell Fry, a Trump loyalist, emerging as front-runner in race to succeed Graham

The president called Fry, who defeated a Republican backing his impeachment in 2021, a ‘very, very talented person’ in an interview this week

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.

By

Emily Jacobs

July 15, 2026

The late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) understood the value of staying in President Donald Trump’s good graces — both to advance his top legislative priorities and to shield himself from challenges on his right flank.

In the wake of Graham’s sudden death, the candidates vying to succeed him have absorbed a central lesson of his career: the most decisive factor in the Republican primary will almost certainly be who wins Trump’s endorsement.

Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), who ousted a sitting GOP lawmaker with Trump’s endorsement in 2022, is emerging as one of the leading contenders and someone who has an inside track to receive the president’s blessing. Fry’s defeat of former Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), who was one of the few Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment in 2021, allowed him to build early relationships with Trump’s political circle.

Fry has been making calls to White House officials about a possible run this week, a source familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider.

Asked on Monday evening about the possibility of endorsing Fry if he launched a bid for a full term in Graham’s seat, Trump told Newsmax that Fry is “somebody you can watch out for” as a rising Republican star and did not deny he was considering backing the House lawmaker if he enters the race.

Fry, who became an ally of Graham’s while they served in Congress together, was one of the Republicans who had reached out to the White House about a possible interim appointment to the seat. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ultimately announced on Monday that he was appointing Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC), Graham’s younger sister, to serve out the remainder of her older brother’s Senate term, which expires next January.

“Russell Fry, a young congressman, is outstanding. That could happen. I could see that happening,” Trump said of an endorsement. “I think he’s a very, very talented person. … I mean, he’s doing much better than the person that preceded him. He’s been very popular in the state.”

Reached for comment, a White House official told JI about the president potentially endorsing Fry that, “Until the president makes an announcement, any speculation is just speculation.”

Fry has been a reliably conservative and party-line vote in the House since elected, and also holds a solidly pro-Israel voting record. AIPAC congratulated him on his primary victory in 2024.

Graham’s GOP replacement on the November ballot will be chosen in a special election scheduled for Aug. 11. Candidates can file to run for the seat starting on July 21, in accordance with the timeline required by state law, and several others are also looking to throw their hats in the ring.

Among the other Republicans who have reportedly been lobbying the White House and considering jumping into the race are Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC); Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC); former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a Fox News host and close ally of National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. Tim Scott; and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who lost to the state’s Attorney General Alan Wilson in a runoff of South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial primary in June.

Mark Lynch, who lost to Graham in last month’s primary by 30 points, said on Monday that he would enter the special election and committed $5 million to his campaign. During the campaign, Trump called him a “lunatic” who “would be a DISASTER for the Republican Party,” which came in response to Lynch blaming the U.S. war in Iran on Graham by arguing that the senator had convinced the president to start the conflict. Graham had criticized Lynch, a South Carolina businessman, for employing staffers with records of making antisemitic statements,

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who was also floated for a possible interim appointment, said on Sunday that he was committed to staying in the House to protect Republicans’ slim majority in the lower chamber. He has not divulged if he is considering entering the special election.

Rep. William Timmons (R-SC) said late Tuesday that he would not enter the race to replace Graham, adding in the announcement that he would not support Noman or Mace’s candidacies.

Regardless of who the nominee is, Republicans are confident that they will hold the Senate seat in November. Trump carried South Carolina in the 2024 presidential election by 18 points, 58-40%.

The Democratic nominee in the race is Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who handily won her primary. A political outsider who challenged Mace unsuccessfully in 2022, Andrews has drawn attention for her effective fundraising against Graham, outraising the incumbent in the last two quarters. National Democrats, however, have so far declined to prioritize the race, citing the need to use those resources in battleground states.

The Cook Political Report grades the race as solid Republican.

A national Democratic campaign source told JI that this is not expected to change unless Republicans were to nominate a weak candidate with a record of extremism or concerning accusations about their personal background, such as accusations of criminal activity or assault.

“If you remember back to [former Democratic National Committee Chair] Jaime Harrison’s campaign [in 2020], he was the head of the South Carolina Democratic Party and raised over $100 million and still got blown out,” Dr. Gibbs Knotts, a professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University, told JI. “South Carolina has not dipped its toe into that purple state category for two to three decades.”

“Whoever gets this [Republican] nomination, to state the obvious, is very likely to be the next senator.”

FAMILY TRIBUTE

Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline appointed to serve remainder of his term

Graham Nordone is expected to serve as a caretaker for the seat for the remainder of the year; a larger field of Republicans are looking to run in the primary for the full six-year term

Grant Baldwin/Getty Images

Darline Graham Nordone speaks during a press conference outside the governor's South Carolina Statehouse office on July 13, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina.

By

Emily Jacobs

July 13, 2026

Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday to serve out the remainder of her older brother’s Senate term through January 2027.

McMaster, a Republican, announced his decision to appoint Graham’s sister to fill the vacancy caused by his sudden passing over the weekend at a press conference from the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., alongside Nordone and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a close ally of both Graham and President Donald Trump.

After hailing Graham, who had been running for a fifth Senate term in November, as “one of South Carolina’s greatest sons,” McMaster explained that he was selecting Nordone to succeed him because he wanted the work that Graham started to be completed by the sister he adored.

“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed,” McMaster said. “It is my honor to ask his little sister, Darlene Graham, to finish his work for him now.”

A source familiar told Jewish Insider that Nordone, who now uses her married name, will be sworn in at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

In brief remarks, Nordone thanked those who had reached out with well wishes or to share memories and funny stories about Graham before expressing gratitude to McMaster for appointing her to fill her brother’s Senate seat.

“Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him,” Nordone said. “I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honor him in this way. Now, to Lindsey, I miss you more than I can ever put into words, but I’m going to do this. I got it.”

Republicans expect Nordone to serve as a caretaker for her brother’s seat for the remainder of the year. Among the top contenders for the upcoming special election for the full six-year term include Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), a close ally of Trump’s, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year with Trump’s endorsement.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who has publicly expressed interest in the seat after finishing fifth in last month’s gubernatorial primary, and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) are also prospective candidates. A special election candidate filing period is scheduled to begin July 21, and will last for a week.

Graham died at 71 on Saturday evening following what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness,” which the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office, in a preliminary autopsy report, attributed to aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Graham and Nordone were raised above a local pool hall and liquor store in Central, S.C. Graham adopted his younger sister when he was 22 and she was 13, after their parents died within 15 months of one another. Graham, who was a senior in college at the time, moved himself and Nordone into a relative’s house and took over raising her, eventually becoming her legal guardian. He joined the Army Reserves, allowing him to stay close to his sister and attend college.

Nordone remained Graham’s closest confidante throughout his life and was one of the most ardent supporters of his political ambitions, campaigning for him in his House and Senate bids and during his 2016 presidential run.

Speaking from the press conference on Monday, Nordone described her late brother as “the most amazing person, outstanding leader, and just a genuinely good man. He was kind and considerate and loved by his family dearly.”

Monday’s announcement came hours after Trump publicly declared that Nordone was his preferred choice to represent South Carolina on Graham’s behalf until the conclusion of his Senate term. “This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social of the idea.

Scott and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also voiced support for Trump’s suggestion to appoint Nordone in the hours before the official announcement.

McMaster said on Monday he had asked Nordone to serve out the remaining six months of Graham’s term after the senator’s passing was announced early Sunday morning, prior to consulting the president.

“After we spoke on the phone in the wee hours of Sunday morning, you agreed to serve through tears. Earlier, I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster told Nordone from the podium. “I called the president afterwards and he thought it was a great idea, and I’m sure everyone here does as well.”

Scott, who a source familiar confirmed to JI had “spoken multiple times with Darline in the last 24 hours” leading up to her appointment, did not speak at the press conference, though he said in a post on X that “The appointment of Darline Graham Nordone to the U.S. Senate is an incredible way to honor the legacy of Lindsey Graham.”

“Nobody understands Lindsey Graham’s heart for faith, family, and South Carolina the way she does,” Scott wrote. “I look forward to working alongside her to continue Sen. Graham’s commitment to keeping Americans safe and secure.”

Others that were reportedly under consideration for the role in the event that Nordone turned down the appointment included former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a close friend of Scott’s from their time in Congress who now hosts a Fox News program; former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Scott’s predecessor in the Senate who has led several conservative organizations including the Heritage Foundation and the Conservative Partnership Institute; and Evette, who lost the state’s gubernatorial GOP primary in a runoff last month.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who was also reportedly floated as a possible appointment option, said on Sunday that he was committed to staying in the House to protect Republicans’ slim majority in the lower chamber.

breaking

Lindsey Graham, a stalwart supporter of Israel in the Senate, dies at 71

The South Carolina Republican had recently returned from a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, and Ankara, Turkey

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks at a press conference on US-Israel relations on February 17, 2025

By

Melissa Weiss

July 12, 2026

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who represented South Carolina in the Senate for more than two decades and was a stalwart supporter of Israel during his time in office, died on Saturday, his office announced. He was 71.

Graham, who served in the House of Representatives for more than a decade before being elected to the Senate in 2002, had recently returned from Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Prior to Ukraine, he had been part of a bipartisan U.S. delegation in Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) @LindseyGrahamSC died Saturday following what his office described as “a brief and sudden illness.”

Israeli Prime Minister @netanyahu called him “a great American patriot and a great champion of the Israel-American alliance.”

President Donald Trump… pic.twitter.com/sKzQc2XnmT
— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) July 12, 2026

NBC News reported that emergency personnel had responded on Saturday evening to a call regarding a cardiac arrest at Graham’s home on Capitol Hill.

A longtime advocate for Israel, Graham traveled to the country in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, making at least 10 trips to the region since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. He last traveled to Israel days before the outbreak of the Iran war in February 2026, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Graham was openly critical of Iran and skeptical of Western engagement with the Islamic Republic. He was a vocal opponent of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and favored military engagement to address the threats posed by the Islamic Republic. He defended the Trump administration’s recent negotiations with Tehran, but said in June that he thought those talks were “going to fail.”

The South Carolina Republican had been up for reelection in November after easily clearing the GOP field in the state’s primary last month. Graham’s death is expected to trigger a special primary in the state to determine who will replace him on the ballot.

The Republican lawmaker was swiftly eulogized by top Israeli political figures.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “lost one of its greatest friends.” Graham, Netanyahu said, “understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement that he was “shocked and heartbroken” to learn of Graham’s death, calling the senator a “dear friend” and a “great American patriot, a great friend of Israel.”

“Senator Graham was a beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the U.S.-Israel partnership,” Herzog said. “We will never forget how he stood by the people of Israel in our most difficult moments, and we will remain eternally grateful for his sense of justice, truth, and loyalty.”

In a social media post, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is running in the current election, mourned Graham as one of the country’s “greatest friends,” who “stood with Israel through our darkest hours, with courage.”

Primary (Off) Colors

Lindsey Graham calls on primary rivals to fire antisemitic staffers

The South Carolina Republican brought Christian and Jewish leaders together to speak out against ‘stopping’ antisemitism in the GOP ‘before it gets stronger’

Lindsey Graham for Senate Campaign

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at news conference last Thursday during which he criticized the actions of his primary opponents' staffers.

By

Emily Jacobs

April 8, 2026

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) doubled down on his calls for two of his primary challengers in his reelection campaign to fire senior officials over their record of antisemitic statements after both candidates refused to do so — vowing on Tuesday to fight the growing tolerance for Jew-hatred in the GOP and call out aspiring lawmakers in South Carolina who excuse or embrace it.

The South Carolina senator convened Christian and Jewish leaders for a call with reporters to criticize Paul Dans and Mark Lynch, who are challenging Graham in the Republican primary for his Senate seat, over Dans’ refusal to fire Vish Burra as his campaign communications director and Lynch declining to part ways with Evan Mulch as his political director despite their respective records of making antisemitic statements.

Graham told reporters that while he would not typically make an issue of the behavior of staffers from an opposing campaign, he felt compelled to speak out because of the outgrowth of antisemitism in the Republican Party.

“I’m speaking more today as just an American, a senator representing South Carolina, rather than just a candidate. I’ve never had to make a phone call like this, and it, quite frankly, is disturbing,” Graham said. “There are two opponents of mine that have staff members that are very out of touch with where I think South Carolina is, and spewing hate in the form of antisemitism.”

“I’ve never done this before, but this is a problem in America, a small problem in the Republican Party, that I don’t want to grow,” he continued. “I seldom do this, go after other people’s campaigns, because I feel confident that what I’ve got to offer wins the day politically, but this is not about politics. This is not about my primary. This is about stopping something before it gets stronger, calling it out and making it unacceptable.”

Graham highlighted both staffers’ records at a news conference last Thursday and on Tuesday’s call, condemning Burra for depicting Jews as cockroaches in a video he created on the right-wing One America News Network, which ultimately resulted in his firing as a producer.

Mulch, meanwhile, posted a photo on X last June of a boot stepping on the Talmud and calling it a “hate filled book.”

“I call this out because I think it’s a vile antisemitic action. It has no place in politics or, quite frankly, decent society, and he hasn’t been fired,” Graham said on Tuesday. “As a matter of fact, Mr. Dans, in responding to the call to deal with the staffers, said that my campaign was controlled by Israel and that I’m being blackmailed by Israel and other affiliated groups, which I think is one of the oldest stereotypes, that the Jews control politicians.”

“When you step on the Talmud with a boot, I don’t think that’s American,” he added of Mulch. “I don’t think it’s Christian, and I don’t think there’s any place in running for higher office for people who engage in that behavior, and I’ve called for him to be fired with no response.”

While Graham said he does not believe it is inherently antisemitic to voice objections to the policies of the Israeli government, he argued that tolerance of such criticisms did equate to tolerance of blatant antisemitism.

“I’m a strong supporter of Israel, and you can oppose Israeli policies and not be an antisemite,” Graham said. “But when you’re an antisemite, not only do you oppose Israel, I think you oppose human decency and what America stands for.”

Graham told Jewish Insider on the call that he was confident “that when the people of South Carolina — Republicans, Democrats and independents — hear what’s going on, and that’s why I’m doing it today, it will be soundly rejected.”

Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition; Sandra Hagee Parker, who chairs the board of CUFI Action Fund, the political arm of Christians United for Israel; and Rabbi Yossi Refson of Chabad of Charleston spoke on the call in support of Graham’s efforts.

“We have witnessed, I believe, sadly, the institutionalization of antisemitism in the Democratic Party,” Brooks told attendees. “For us at the Republican Jewish Coalition, let me be very clear and unambiguous that this is a fight that we will take everywhere. We will ensure that antisemitism does not take hold in our party like it has taken hold in the Democratic Party. The fabric of America was woven together based on Judeo-Christian values, the values that we all cherish are built in partnership with our Christian allies and friends. Anybody who traffics in antisemitic rhetoric or antisemitic actions has no place in our party.”

Graham vowed at the end of the call to continue his push to ensure elected Republicans in and out of the state are individuals who repudiate antisemitism.

“The breadth of condemnation here and the quality of the thoughts expressed not only give me hope and prove that I’m doing the right thing. It inspires me. I am not going to let this go after what I heard today. I am never going to let this go until my last breath. I will make sure that any group, but particularly the long suffering Jewish people, have my unequivocal support.”

Dans and Lynch were unapologetic about their campaign staffers, instead releasing statements late last week and Tuesday directing their ire at Graham in deeply personal terms.

“He’s given a member of my campaign staff more attention than he’s given South Carolinians for decades,” Dans said in a statement last Thursday. “The real headline that you should be covering is how many opioid deaths happened in South Carolina last year on Lindsey Graham’s watch. Israel picks Lindsey Graham’s staff, but they do not pick mine. I am not firing Vish Burra and I am calling on the people of South Carolina to fire Lindsey Graham.”

Lynch, meanwhile, told JI in a statement on Tuesday evening that Graham was “an existential threat to both the nation of Israel and the United States.”

“Lindsey Graham is responsible for the deaths of countless Jews in Israel by the fact that he has sent 10s of millions of dollars to Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Al-Nusra Front — funding the enemies of Israel,” Lynch said.

PODCAST POLITICS

The latest Gen Z podcaster interviewing Democrats thinks Israel is a ‘terrorist state’

Jack Cocchiarella’s latest guest was Gov. Gavin Newsom, as Newsom positions himself for a potential 2028 presidential run

Jack Cocchiarella/YouTube

Jack Cocchiarella interviews California Gov. Gavin Newsom in New Hampshire on March 5, 2026.

By

Gabby Deutch

March 6, 2026

As Gavin Newsom travels around the country promoting his book — a memoir widely seen as a first step on his journey toward a 2028 presidential campaign — the California governor made appearances in South Carolina and New Hampshire, two early Democratic primary states that are important stops for any likely candidate.

For a trip signaling presidential ambitions, Newsom’s choice of interviewer is revealing. On Thursday night, he was interviewed in Portsmouth, N.H., by Jack Cocchiarella, a self-described “progressive political pundit,” part of a group of Gen Z influencers with growing clout among Democratic voters.

Courting those content creators has been central to Newsom’s efforts to build an engaged national audience.

He’s adopted a go-anywhere media strategy that has put him in conversation with everyone from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, to conservative Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro. On Thursday, at the event with Cocchiarella, Newsom said he would sit for a conversation with the far-left streamer Hasan Piker, one of the most recognizable names among young political influencers — and who has an unshakeable predisposition toward antisemitism.

In recent months, Cocchiarella has adopted a stridently anti-Israel posture that mirrors some of the incendiary rhetoric frequently employed by Piker, though Cocchiarella isn’t yet as prominent as Piker.

But the Columbia University graduate has quickly gone from being a small-time digital strategist for Democratic candidates in Florida to a YouTuber who has scored interviews with some of the most important members of the Democratic Party. In the 20 months since he posted his first YouTube video, he has garnered 1.47 million subscribers, with some of his videos fetching up to 5 million views. Most of them feature Cocchiarella attacking President Donald Trump.

While Cocchiarella has developed a somewhat cheeky style drawing on Democrats’ opposition to Trump, he’s far less aggressive than Piker, and more in line with the talking points of mainstream Democrats. He’s interviewed many of them: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Mark Warner (D-VA); House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); and Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Robert Garcia (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Eric Swalwell (D-MA) all appeared in video interviews with Cocchiarella, as did Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

But against this backdrop, Cocchiarella also has a combative streak. In October, weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed, Cocchiarella drafted a tweet responding to news that Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk created, would be putting together an “All-American” halftime show to compete with the Super Bowl’s official halftime show, where the Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny was set to perform. “Shoot him again,” Cocchiarella wrote.

The message was never posted on X, but he shared a screenshot of the draft to a private Instagram story. “Thoughts?” Cocchiarella wrote. He did not respond to a request for comment. (A screenshot of the post was obtained by Jewish Insider.)

Israel did not appear to be an issue Cocchiarella cared much about until last year. “Also f*** Israel just to be clear,” he wrote in a post on X in October. “STOP SENDING MY F***ING TAX DOLLARS TO ISRAEL,” he wrote in December. “Israel is a terrorist state that threatens and kill [sic] Americans,” Cocchiarella posted this week, days after the U.S. and Israel began military strikes against Iran.

In December, Cocchiarella interviewed Newsom and asked him about whether he would accept money from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby.

“AIPAC, DMFI [Democratic Majority for Israel], the Israel lobby at large. This has become a big conversation, [for] someone like myself, and I think at this point a broad majority of Democrats are saying we don’t want candidates who are taking money from AIPAC. We don’t want candidates who are beholden to the Israel lobby,” Cocchiarella said.

In response, Newsom said he had never received financial support from AIPAC — which only contributed to federal campaigns — just like he has never accepted donations from the tobacco or oil lobbies.

On Thursday, at the New Hampshire event, Cocchiarella asked Newsom to clarify comments he had made two days earlier suggesting that Israel could be considered an “apartheid state.” Cocchiarella said some online conversation has suggested Newsom is just following the polling, that “you don’t actually believe what you said there,” that “it’s kind of like a shape-shifting move.” But he said it reminded him of Newsom’s decision in 2004, when he was mayor of San Francisco, to give out same-sex marriage licenses — much to the chagrin even of other liberal Democrats in the state who had not yet come out in support of gay marriage.

“History echoes a little bit in the same way,” Cocchiarella said.

In response, Newsom spoke about growing up deeply connected to the Bay Area Jewish community and even traveling to Israel with his family.

“I want to level set on that basis. What I can’t accept today, though, is what Bibi Netanyahu is doing in Israel, and I just can’t countenance that,” said Newsom, who compared his anger at Netanyahu’s efforts to annex the West Bank to the way he felt when same-sex marriage was not yet legal.

“I can’t sit back in the spirit of this book, in the spirit that defined marriage equality, in terms of my values and beliefs, and watch that,” said Newsom.

Before Newsom’s interview with Cocchiarella, a spokesperson said the governor often sits for interviews with people whose views diverge from his own.

“Of course the governor doesn’t agree with every statement of every person he ever sits down with,” Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s communications director, told JI. “He is proud to engage with people across the political spectrum — from Ben Shapiro to Mayor Mamdani. The governor believes in free speech and open debate, something Donald Trump, who dines with neo-Nazis like Nick Fuentes, clearly doesn’t understand.”

Race to watch

First-term Cunningham gains upper hand in battleground South Carolina district

Republican challenger Nancy Mace leads the incumbent Joe Cunningham in fundraising in run-up to the election

AP Photo/Meg Kinnard

U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham addresses the South Carolina Democratic Party's convention on Saturday, June 22, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. In 2018, Cunningham became the first Democrat to flip a South Carolina congressional seat in decades.

By

Marc Rod

October 19, 2020

Republicans had high hopes that the party would be able to take back South Carolina’s first congressional district this election. They had a candidate with an impressive resume and solid financial support, a district that President Donald Trump won by 12 points and a first-term incumbent who had been elected by just 1.4 points.

But three weeks out from Election Day, Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC) appears to have secured a solid lead over Republican state Rep. Nancy Mace.

A new poll commissioned by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee found Cunningham leading Mace by 13 points, and race handicappers including the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have moved the race from “Tossup” to “Lean Democratic” in recent weeks.

Gibbs Knotts, a political science professor at the College of Charleston, credited Cunningham’s fundraising and “really effective commercials” for his success in widening the polling gap between himself and Mace.

“[He’s] somebody who’s really about not being super ideological,” Knotts told Jewish Insider. “That message has been able to get out, and he’s been able to tell that story a bit more.”

Cunningham’s advertising has emphasized bipartisanship, Knotts continued, and highlighted votes in which he has bucked the party line. Several of Cunningham’s ads point to the freshman legislator’s fight against a congressional pay raise proposed by Democratic leaders. “There’s nothing I won’t do in D.C. to put the Lowcountry first,” Cunningham says in one ad.

Cunningham even received praise from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for his position on coronavirus-related unemployment benefits in a recent senatorial debate.

Nevertheless, Knotts cautioned that the DCCC-commissioned poll may somewhat overstate Cunningham’s lead. “It’s going to be close even with a strong candidate like Joe Cunningham,” he said. “I expect it to remain in the single digits.”

Mace’s campaign disputed the results of the DCCC’s poll.

“Right on cue, after blockbuster Q3 fundraising that breaks national records for amount raised over D incumbents, the DCCC comes out with a polling memo that defies science,” Mace campaign manager Mara Mellstrom told JI. “This race is a toss-up and all interested parties are acting accordingly… Believe your eyes — not a selectively leaked hack poll designed to scare money away at the close.”

Mace raised $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2020, while Cunningham raised $1.8 million. This gives Mace a cash on hand advantage going into the final month of the election — Mace has $1.7 million on hand compared to Cunningham’s $1.2 million, The State reported.

Knotts characterized Mace as having failed to “articulate her clear vision,” according to Knotts.

“She did not have a breakout moment in the debates,” Knotts said. “She had some bright spots… [but] I think Cunningham certainly held his own.”

Knotts also noted that Cunningham has solidified his support among college-educated suburbanites in the district, who are proving to be a key constituency for Democrats nationwide this cycle.

This support also “bodes well” for Democratic Senate candidate Jaime Harrison and Vice President Joe Biden in this year’s surprisingly competitive statewide races, Knotts said.

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