COLUMBIA - The death of former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond last week has left the S.C. Republican Party with a void in leadership, political observers say.

Thurmond, who retired in January after serving 48 years in the Senate, holds the record as the nation's oldest and longest-serving senator. He died June 26 at the age of 100.

"Clearly we're a little bit without a patriarch right now," said Richland County GOP Chairman Shell Suber. "He's been our spiritual leader, if you will, for so long. It may be some time before someone steps in that role."

When Thurmond died, Republicans "lost a giant," said House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville. But with Thurmond's help, the GOP grew solid and "developed a very strong bench" of leaders, Wilkins said.

Political experts agree the state Republican Party has strength - in numbers and dollars. Republicans swept most races in the 2002 election, including taking over the Governor's Mansion. State GOP Chairman Katon Dawson has pulled the party out of debt.

Yet Thurmond's death leaves a void in the party, said Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen.

Although Thurmond never directed state party strategy and rarely endorsed candidates, he still had a great deal of pull in the GOP, Thigpen said. "Strom was a symbol of the party."

Those in political circles say Thurmond's shoes are, indeed, too big to fill. But the party has a strong leadership team ready to take the reins and guide the party, Dawson said.

At the top of the list are Gov. Mark Sanford and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who took over Thurmond's seat after his retirement.

While Sanford has the opportunity to become a party leader, party has never been his focus, Thigpen said.

"Mark is an unusual choice to become governor. He was never any kind of party guy," Thigpen said.

Sanford did not have much involvement with party politics before serving in the 1st Congressional District from 1995 to 2001. But he notes Thurmond also was not a straight party man.

"Strom did remarkable things to build the Republican Party in his early years, but if you look at the second half of his career, he went to great lengths to be bipartisan," Sanford said. "I think my role is to try and build bridges, period. It isn't necessarily to build up the Republican Party or build down the Democrat Party."

Sanford has enough on his plate, trying to learn the ropes in his first year as governor and dealing with the state's budget crisis, Suber said.

In addition, Sanford - a more modern, fiscally conservative Republican - must work out differences with a General Assembly controlled by traditional, conservative Republicans, said Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon.

"Mark Sanford needs to work on implementing his agenda before he can become the standard bearer of the party," Huffmon said.

The state party typically looks to its ranking U.S. senator for leadership, said Horry County GOP Chairman Duane Oliver.

"I think Lindsey Graham is capable of fulfilling that role," Oliver said.

Graham, who served in the S.C. House in 1993 and 1994 before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, is the most likely to step forward and take a leadership role, Thigpen said.

"Lindsey Graham is more inclined to become involved in party affairs and the direction of the party," Thigpen said.

Insiders are looking to Graham to guide the party.

"The level of service to South Carolina that Senator Thurmond was able to give to constituents, I think you're now seeing that level of service come from Lindsey Graham," Dawson said.

But Huffmon doubts Graham can fill the same ceremonial role as Thurmond. The Edgefield Republican was not well-known for his legislation, but he soared in the area of constituent services. Graham does not have Thurmond's seniority and is not as well-known throughout the state, making it unlikely Graham will be able to repeat Thurmond's constituent service, Huffmon said.

"The best thing Lindsey Graham can do is move out of Strom Thurmond's shadows while still honoring him," Huffmon said.

While the hopes of many are pinned on Graham, state Republicans acknowledge it will be a team effort to lead the party for now.

"We have a deep bench, but nobody has raised up to the level of Strom Thurmond," Suber said.