Trump wants Graham's sister as Senate replacement — not Mace

President https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump wants South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's sister to fill his seat on an interim basis after his unexpected death early Sunday.

Why it matters: Trump has a close friendship and working relationship with South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, who's expected to make the temporary today.

• Before Trump's announcement that he favors https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/inside-the-family-life-of-lindsey-graham-the-senator-who-helped-raise-his-little-sister-174044886.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFArHaSGunP5xO9tgfRiljZsZji8y7MoWlr1fIhrkbv_PtieOeRF8gI2o_tcd6SNXMzZwWFPHnriekdNTMCD6V4geV2hRSrc63ZnVroVJ-dQVuL2QILS8muxjspjoe5MLEKZVHsQcKeMv23yFk-WstgL6ZFuoFHaW-mt7eTfIsFx" target="_blank">Darline Graham Nordone to serve her brother's term the rest of the year, Trump's advisers were sending signaling that Graham Nordone likely would be the pick.
• South Carolina will hold a GOP primary on Aug. 11 to pick a new Republican nominee for the Senate.

  The winner of the Nov. 3 election will take over Graham's old seat in January.

Zoom in: Graham's unexpected death made the GOP's Senate margin even slimmer now, increasing the pressure to fill the seat as soon as possible.

• Picking a "placeholder" like Graham's sister gives the governor and president time to decide whom to support during the primary election.
• "McMaster listens to Trump and Trump listens to McMaster," one senior adviser to Trump said.

Inside the room: South Carolina Rep. Russell Fry (R) is a favorite candidate of some Trump insiders, who say he has good fundraising potential and a safe Republican seat that won't hurt the GOP's House margins.

• Fry's colleague, Rep. Joe Wilson, has also surfaced as a possible candidate.

  He's the father of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, the GOP's nominee for governor.

The intrigue: Rep. Nancy Mace, who came in fifth in the GOP gubernatorial primary, has drawn an exceedingly negative reaction from Trump's political operation by appearing to https://x.com/NancyMace/status/2076301493284618708" target="_blank">float her own name on social media to replace Graham the morning his death was announced, two sources told Axios.

• "If Mace ends up in a runoff, we'll drop $2 million on her head to keep her out," said one top official with Trump's political operation. "All we want is a Republican who is sane and can work with the White House.
• Said a second: "POTUS wasn't a fan already, but putting herself out as a candidate while everyone was absorbing the news of Lindsey's death was in poor taste, even for Mace."

What they're saying: Mace told Axios she was being unfairly singled out, noting that Graham's former primary opponent, Mark Lynch, and Republican Rep. Ralph Norman also had floated their names.

• "Two men announced they were running to replace Lindsey Graham yesterday — within hours of his passing.

  I wasn't one of them," Mace said.

• "The pearl clutching by people afraid I will run hit a new high," she added.