Kentucky’s Democratic governor declines to commit to appointing a Republican if Mitch McConnell steps down
Kentucky’s Democratic governor declines to commit to appointing a Republican if Mitch McConnell steps down
A recent state law directs the governor to select a Senate appointee from a list of three names submitted by the state executive committee of the outgoing senator’s party.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear this week declined to say whether he would follow a state law that says Republicans would get to choose a replacement for Sen. Mitch McConnell if the Senate GOP leader leaves Congress before the end of his term.
The Democratic governor was asked during a news conference Thursday about making an appointment in the event of a Senate vacancy but said he would not speculate on the matter.
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What would stop him from appointing a democrat who changed parties to be a republican?
IIRC, Republican party leadership chooses three options and the governor appoints one among them. No way would the party include someone who just switched over.
What would happen if he just left the spot open? Or left it open until they picked someone suitable?
In theory that could happen, but one would have to weigh the consequences of that vs not allowing your state to have its due representation in Congress. Those are pretty bad optics.
I think that depends on how popular the nominees are, no?
Certainly a factor in weighing the consequences.
Gotcha. That seems much less open to interpretation then.