It was 2:35 am et Sunday.

The phone rang, yanking me out of deep slumber.

Calls like these are never good.

In the split second before I answered the phone, my mind traveled to the obvious place for any journalist who covers Capitol Hill and gets a call at that hour.

LINDSEY GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR WHO ROSE FROM SMALL-TOWN ROOTS TO GOP POWER BROKER, DIES AT 71

Surely it was about former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

McConnell has been out of service and nowhere to be found for weeks — after being hospitalized with an unspecified illness. The internet was rife with conspiracy theories and conjecture. And, considering the dearth of information, I suspected the worst.

My longtime colleague Jodie Curtis was on the line when I picked up. Jodie is a senior figure at Fox, forced into weekend overnight assignment editor duty because of an illness. Jodie calling to tell me that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was dead.

“Graham?” I asked incredulously. “Not McConnell?”

Emerging from my stupor, I instinctively presumed this might be about the infirm, Kentucky Republican. You’d have better odds presuming that overnight call was about McConnell than hitting an exacta wheel at Churchill Downs.

My instincts immediately kicked in.

What if this was psy-ops by the Russians, Chinese or Iranians. A rouse. A hoax. A hack.

I told my colleague to just wait a moment while we confirmed. It would be easy to get this wrong.

Back in the 1990s, lawmakers “killed” comedian Bob Hope on the House floor, prematurely announcing his death during special orders speeches. Yours truly – and everyone else in Washington – prematurely reported the death of the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH). She suffered from a catastrophic brain aneurism. Yet after they removed the Congresswoman from life support, she continued to live for a few hours before dying.

However, it became clear that Lindsey Graham was indeed dead. I was quickly on the air. When asked about the shock of Graham passing, I invoked a Native American adage: Death comes. And it’s always out of season.

Lindsey Graham was gone. But who would succeed him on Capitol Hill?

Think all in the family. At least for now.

Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Tim Scott (R-SC) both implored the late senator’s kid sister Darline Graham to follow her brother. President Trump believed it would be a fitting tribute to the senator. So did South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) – who was in charge the appointment.

“It’s my honor to ask his sister to finish his work now,” said McMaster.

Darline Graham is a political neophyte. Lindsey Graham adopted his sister after their parents died – and Darline was a teenager.

“Lindsey has always been there for me. And now I will be there for him,” said now Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC).

Lindsey Graham was his sister’s caretaker. Now she’s the caretaker of his Senate seat until January.

But who’s next?

South Carolina has a small Congressional delegation. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) quickly excluded himself from the immediate running, noting the importance of remaining in the House. Plucking one of South Carolina’s House GOP members and appointing them to the Senate is a problem for the narrow Republican majority. The Constitution bars appointments to the House. So McMaster would have diminished the GOP’s slim majority had he picked a House member to fill in for Lindsey Graham. It would take months to conduct a special election to fill the vacant House seat.

Appointing Darline Graham solves that problem.

Reps. Russell Fry (R-SC), Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) are all interested in running for the full term. South Carolina will hold a snap primary in mid August. The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November. Lindsey Graham had just secured the Republican nomination for a fifth term last month.

President Trump’s influence will play an outsized role in who gets the nod. He’s already singled out Fry.

But the election will look a little different this fall. November will mark the first time since the mid-1950s that either Lindsey Graham or late, legendary Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) isn’t on the ballot in the Palmetto State.

The Senate met for the first time Monday afternoon since Graham’s passing.

“Lord, we remember with gratitude his commitment to the responsibilities entrusted to him and the many ways he sought to serve the people of this country. Give comfort, strength and peace to his family, friends, colleagues and all who mourn his passing,” prayed Senate Chaplain Barry Black.

The Senate shrouded Graham’s desk with a black cloak. A bouquet of white roses rested on the desk, signifying a new beginning without a Senate titan.

“The halls of the Senate already feel empty without him,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

‘THIS IS NOT NORMAL’: AOC UNLOADS ON MCCONNELL’S PROLONGED ABSENCE

Well wishers left notecards and flowers outside Graham’s office in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Senators praised Graham’s tenacity.

“He didn’t want to just argue about things. He wanted to actually solve things,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on Fox.

Even until the end.

Over the weekend, Graham appeared to forge a deal on a Russia sanctions measure.

“This could be well, this could well be the end of the war in Ukraine. It could put all the pressure on Russia to finally end their illegal war of aggression,” predicted Sen. Angus King (I-ME).

Lindsey Graham first won a seat in Congress in 1994 as part of the “Republican Revolution.” That’s the historic class which flipped control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Graham and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) are the only members from that 1994 class still serving in Congress.

Graham earned a national profile barely four years after arriving in Washington. House GOP leaders tapped Graham to serve as one of the House “managers,” prosecuting articles of impeachment for President Clinton in the Senate.

“Impeachment is not about punishment,” argued Graham before the Senate in January, 1999. “Impeachment is about cleansing the office.”

Three years after that, Graham left the House. He became one of 100 in the Senate. But his colleagues conceded that the institution felt hollow at just 99.

“I am comforted by the knowledge that in the end, he has just changed his address. And that one day, Mr. President….” said Thune on the floor, pausing for ten seconds. “We will laugh together again.”

The Leader’s voice then cracked as he fought back tears.

“Mr. President, I yield the floor,” Thune whispered.

By Tuesday afternoon, Darline Graham became the 2,022nd senator in American history. But the first to immediately succeed her brother.

“He always said that his greatest accomplishment was the way that Darline turned out,” said Britt.

“I’m glad that there will be another Sen. Graham and that Darline will serve with us,” said

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE). “That’ll allow for some continuity.”

Graham’s passing leaves a Congressional chasm.

“It will be difficult to pass anything without Sen. Graham because he’s been such a significant voice in the Senate,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

It’s unclear if any of that will fall to the Senate’s newest member.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR’S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA’S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR

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Darline Graham joined her brother’s side when he briefly ran for President in 2015. She says Lindsey taught her how to ride a bike while growing up.

“He would hold on to the bicycle as I pedaled. And he’d run along beside of me. Give me a big push and shout ‘Keep pedaling! Keep pedaling!’ said the new senator. ” And then he was the one who comforted me when I stopped pedaling and fell off the bicycle.”

Today, Darline Graham is again hopping onto that bicycle to finish Lindsey Graham’s term.

You can almost hear the late senator, in his “upstate” twang shouting to his sister “Keep pedaling! Keep pedaling!”

Democrat Xavier Becerra holds a commanding lead in the California governor’s race in a new poll, which also shows broad voter support for a ballot proposition to reform the state’s landmark environmental law to speed up housing and infrastructure.

The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, released Wednesday night, focused primarily on questions related to climate change and environmental policies.

The results show Californians have a strong distaste for building data centers for artificial intelligence technology, and largely favor the state’s efforts to protect the environment and cut emissions — with some exceptions.

The survey showed Becerra with a big lead over Republican Steve Hilton in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom. Becerra, a longtime Democratic officeholder, received support from 61% of likely voters, compared with 36% for Hilton, a populist conservative who once advised a British prime minister.

The results are not surprising in a state where Democratic voters significantly outnumber Republicans. The GOP has not won a statewide election since 2008.

Just 2% of likely voters said they were unsure which candidate to support in the November election. The poll results skewed heavily partisan, with more than 9 in 10 Democratic and Republican voters picking their party’s respective candidate. Most independent voters leaned toward Becerra, 60%, over Hilton, 34%.

The results are similar to data from a poll conducted just before the June 2 primary election that asked voters to pick between the two candidates. In that survey, 52% said they supported Becerra and 31% were for Hilton.

In a statement Wednesday, Hilton characterized the race as “wide open,” contending that Becerra’s support was weaker than the poll’s headline figures would indicate.

“Instead of a 36-year career politician, we need a positive, energetic problem-solver with business experience and plans to make our state ‘Califordable’ — that’s me,” Hilton said.

Becerra spokesman Jonathan Underland said in a statement that “Californians got to know Xavier Becerra during the primary, and they’re ready to make him their next governor. We’re keeping our eyes on the prize — hitting the trail every day ’til November to turn that support into votes.”

Support for CEQA reform

A ballot measure aimed at reforming the California Environmental Quality Act to speed up construction notched a strong showing in the poll.

Nearly three-quarters of likely voters, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents, said that they would vote for Proposition 45. The measure would shorten windows for environmental review, public comment and legal challenges for certain housing, transportation, water infrastructure and other projects.

“At this early stage in the campaign, California voters are feeling more aligned with Democratic candidates on the environment, and it shows in the polling,” said PPIC survey director Mark Baldassare. “But strong support for Proposition 45 reveals their desire to balance environmental priorities with housing and infrastructure needs.”

Strong data center opposition

The poll found large majorities of Californians do not want new data centers to support the AI boom built in their area; 44% of adults say they “strongly oppose” such projects, and 29% “somewhat oppose” them.

The majority opposition holds across political parties, geographic regions, gender, race and income. It’s especially pronounced in the Inland Empire, where plans for a 950,000-square-foot data center came to a halt after fierce resident pushback. Three-quarters of people surveyed in that region said they oppose building new data centers.

“Every day, we are hearing about how local communities across the nation are responding to plans for data centers,” Baldassare said. “Californians have weighed in and they share this growing concern.”

Support for environmental policies — except if they cost more

The poll also shows strong, if somewhat qualified, support for California’s efforts to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment.

Three-quarters of adults said policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have been a good thing overall, and 65% said they support California leaders’ efforts to make their own environmental policies separate from the federal government.

While most respondents — 62% — said they favor a law requiring 100% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources within the next two decades, just 38% said they were willing to pay more for electricity sourced from renewables.

“With energy prices spiking and affordability a growing concern, Californians are just not willing to pay more for renewable energy,” Baldassare said. A near-unanimous majority, 96%, said the cost of energy — including gasoline, natural gas and electricity — is a problem.

Newsom’s move to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035 also appears to have fallen out of favor. Two-thirds of Californians oppose the policy, a significant slip in approval from 2021, when a PPIC survey showed 49% supported the move.

Still, majorities of likely voters — 53% and 51%, respectively — said they approve of Newsom’s and the state Legislature’s handling of environmental issues.

At 28%, President Trump’s approval rating on the environment was much lower. In his second term, Trump has moved to slash environmental regulations, including easing pollution regulations on coal-fired power plants and pushing for oil drilling off California’s coast.

“Given this ratings gap, it’s not surprising that Californians want to see the state take the lead on climate change policy,” Baldassare said.

The survey polled 1,578 California adults, 1,003 of whom were likely voters, in English and Spanish from June 29 to July 6 and had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points in either direction.