Governor was never going to be able to appoint a replacement, Kentucky specifically removed Beshear’s power of appointment because they saw he was a democrat.
Realistically, there was never going to be an election before November, so in practice the “Mitch must make it past the special election deadline” was about the time between November and January. The special election would have been effective immediately, whereas the normal election is effective in January, even if the special election was on the exact same day the normal election would have been.
Note that Lindsey Graham’s death was no big deal because that republican governor had appointment power.
It’s my understanding that the Kentucky constitution gives the governor power to appoint a replacement - then the legislature passed a law that took that power away since the governor is a Democrat.
But that law would obviously be found unconstitutional if challenged. They’d have to pass an amendment to take that power away, not a law.
But Democrats did Democrat things and just rolled over instead of fighting.
Governor was never going to be able to appoint a replacement, Kentucky specifically removed Beshear’s power of appointment because they saw he was a democrat.
Realistically, there was never going to be an election before November, so in practice the “Mitch must make it past the special election deadline” was about the time between November and January. The special election would have been effective immediately, whereas the normal election is effective in January, even if the special election was on the exact same day the normal election would have been.
Note that Lindsey Graham’s death was no big deal because that republican governor had appointment power.
It’s my understanding that the Kentucky constitution gives the governor power to appoint a replacement - then the legislature passed a law that took that power away since the governor is a Democrat.
But that law would obviously be found unconstitutional if challenged. They’d have to pass an amendment to take that power away, not a law.
But Democrats did Democrat things and just rolled over instead of fighting.