WASHINGTON – Senator Darline Graham of South Carolina, who was sworn in last week to temporarily replace her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, said on July 20 that she would enter the race to succeed him.

The announcement came days after US President Donald Trump urged her to run for the seat. It cements her rapid transformation from a grieving sister seen as a caretaker of the Republican-held Senate seat to a first-time candidate vying for a place in the nation’s most powerful governing body.

Darline Graham shared her decision in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“I feel like I can do it,” she said in a clip from the interview, which was set to air on the night of July 20. “I feel an inner peace about it.”

The filing period for the special Republican primary election opens on July 21 and closes July 28, the day of Lindsey Graham’s funeral in Washington. The special election is scheduled for Aug 11.

No one has been more central to Darline Graham’s sudden rise than Trump, who has repeatedly intervened to elevate her since Lindsey Graham, his longtime ally, died July 11.

Shortly after the death, Trump posted on social media encouraging Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina to appoint Darline Graham as an interim senator. Days later, the President met with her in the Oval Office.

Then, on July 17, Trump publicly encouraged Graham to run for her brother’s seat.

Several other prominent Republicans in the state, including Representatives Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, have already indicated their intentions to run.

South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, who had considered a potential bid for the seat, said on July 20 that she would not run, citing “unfinished business” in the House.

Graham, 62, has worked in various jobs to help people with disabilities find work – including most recently as commissioner of a state agency for blind residents. She does not appear to have previous political experience, other than publicly supporting her brother’s career. NYTIMES

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, says she will run to succeed him