Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has represented South Carolina for over three decades and was a key ally of President Donald Trump, died on Saturday night, his office confirmed in a statement early Sunday morning.
Graham was 71.
His office described the cause of death as “a brief and sudden illness.”
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement added.
Statement from the Office of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina). pic.twitter.com/CQ5yVvqTH1
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 12, 2026
The Washington Post reported that police scanner audio indicated emergency responders had worked to stabilize an individual at an address that corresponds to Graham’s home on Capitol Hill after a call was placed at around 8:30 p.m. ET for an individual suffering chest pains.
First responders then said that the man had gone into cardiac arrest and that CPR was being administered.
Graham, who was first elected to Congress as part of the “Republican Revolution” class of 1994 in the U.S. House, represented the state’s 3rd Congressional District until 2003.
In 2002, he won election to the Senate, where he replaced the retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond, then the oldest-serving member of the upper chamber.
Graham was running for reelection in 2026, where he was considered a solid favorite against Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews.
He had also briefly run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination without success, dropping out in December of 2015 before the primary process began.
“He’s outstanding. He’s been at my side for a long time,” the president said while appearing virtually at a telerally for Graham last month, according to the Post, noting that the two were opponents during the 2016 race.
“After that fight was over, we were best of friends, and he’s helped me as much as anybody in the Senate,” Trump added.
Graham was probably best known as one of the staunchest hawks in the upper chamber, particularly in his vocal support of military action against Iran and his support for Israel.
“Here’s what I tell President Trump,” Graham said in March, according to The Hill. “Keep it up for a few more weeks, take Kharg Island where all of the resources they have to produce oil, control that island, let this regime die on a vine.”
“I go back to South Carolina, I’m asking them to send their sons and daughters over to the Middle East,” Graham added. “What I want you do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, step forward and say, ‘This is my fight, too. I join America. I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down.’”
He had recently returned from Ukraine after a meeting with that country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where he told reporters that both the White House and the Senate had reached an agreement to impose additional sanctions on Russia to aid Kyiv.
Graham’s death leaves two Republican seats vacant in the Senate, with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remaining hospitalized. McConnell, who was retiring after his term expired in January, would be replaced under Kentucky law by a special election if he decided to bow out early, and the governor — Democrat Andy Beshear — would have significant latitude as to when to call a special election.
Under South Carolina law, GOP Gov. Henry McMaster would select a replacement for Graham in the Senate, and the Republican Party would then decide on a mechanism to select his replacement on the ballot.
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