The Kentucky legislature has passed a bill that would require a governor to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate with a missing member of the senator’s party, with the intent of provoking political rumors around Frankfort.
The bill would require an incumbent governor to elect a replacement for a vacant seat in the Senate from a list of three candidates chosen by the top leadership of the former senator’s political party.
Both houses of the Kentucky legislature are controlled by Republican supermajorities. They probably have the votes to overturn a veto that Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear could cast.
The two seats in the U.S. Senate in Kentucky are occupied by Republicans, who have had health issues in recent years, but both say they will not go anywhere soon.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden faces GOP immigration and filibuster offensive Tensions over Senate filibuster Biden says he supports return to filibuster talking ‘ MONTH (R-Ky.), 79, suffered a shoulder fracture in a fall in 2019. He had triple bypass surgery in 2003. In 2020 he was photographed with his hands outstretched and bandaged, which he did not. he wanted to explain.
“I can tell you I’m fine. And I can’t believe you’ve played with that all week, ”McConnell told the Washington Post in October.
His. Rand Paul
Randal (Rand) Howard Paul Overnight Health Care: Several Republican Lawmakers Say No to COVID-19 Vaccines | AstraZeneca’s European suspensions threaten the global response of COVID-19 | OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is proposing exit from bankruptcy B Several Republican lawmakers say no to COVID-19 Progressive Booker vaccines hint at Senate mid-term candidacy against Rand Paul MORE (R-Ky.), 58, was assaulted by a neighbor in 2017, an attack that left him with five broken ribs. Part of Paul’s lung was withdrawn in 2019 as a result of the attack.
Both senators intend to stay.
“This bill improves the way vacancies are currently filled and ensures that Kentucky would not go unrepresented in the U.S. Senate for an extended period of time,” McConnell said in a statement. “It would also ensure that Kentucky voters have the ability to choose who they think will best represent them in a timely manner, rather than leaving that decision to the governor, regardless of party.”
McConnell spokeswoman Stephanie Penn said the minority leader is not leaving.
“Dr. Paul intends to serve the rest of this term and the next one as well, ”said Kelsey Cooper, Paul’s spokeswoman.
In comments to The Associated Press last week, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers (R) acknowledged that the bill had fueled speculation about McConnell’s health. Stivers said he raised the prospect with McConnell.
“Let me make this definitive statement: he’s not sick, he’s not leaving, maybe to the displeasure of some people, but he plans to be there,” Stivers told the AP.
Paul’s seat will run in the 2022 election. McConnell won re-election for a seventh term in 2020, with 58% of the vote.
Kentucky would be the seventh state to require a governor to elect a member of the former senator’s political party, following Arizona, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, Utah and Wyoming.