The Kentucky Senate sent a bill to Gov. Andy Beshear‘s (D-KY) desk that would cut him out of the process of filling a vacancy in either of the commonwealth’s U.S. Senate seats.
The upper chamber of the state legislature passed House Bill 622, which would remove the authority for the governor to appoint a replacement for a vacant U.S. Senate seat and instead keep the seat open until a special election can be held. The state Senate passed the law, 34-3, on Thursday after it passed the state House, 88-4, earlier this month.
The bill comes as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has had several health scares in recent years, and the governor’s mansion in Kentucky is set to be occupied by Beshear, a Democrat, until December 2027. McConnell announced earlier this year he would step down as Republican leader in the Senate later this year, but he has said he will finish out…
