On Thursday, the Kentucky state legislature passed a bill that would alter the manner in which vacant U.S. Senate seats are filled, removing the governor’s ability to appoint a replacement and instead setting up a special election procedure to fill any vacancies.
According to Politico, the bill was introduced by Republicans but passed with bipartisan support, receiving large enough majorities that a veto by Governor Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) would most likely be overridden by the legislature. The legislation dictates that a list of three names will be submitted to the governor by the outgoing senator’s party, and that the governor must appoint one of those three names to hold the seat until a special election should take place. Both of Kentucky’s senators, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, are Republicans.
McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, announced last month that he will step down as the leader of the Senate GOP later this year, but has said that he will serve the remainder of his Senate term, which expires in 2027. He has not yet confirmed whether or not he will run for re-election in 2026; he is currently serving his seventh term in office. There have been doubts about his political future, as the 82-year-old McConnell has had several health scares in recent months, including several instances of suddenly freezing up during public appearances.
The new legislation significantly curbs Beshear’s power, preventing him from appointing a Democrat to fill the seat in the event of a sudden vacancy. Beshear released a statement condemning the bill, claiming that it “improperly and unconstitutionally restricts the governor’s power.”
Beshear previously denounced the bill before its passage as “rank partisanship,” adding “we don’t want a candidate or a general assembly that just sees Team R or Team D or red or blue. We want good government that focuses on our people.”
Although Kentucky is an overwhelmingly Republican state, consistently voting for Republicans for the Senate and in presidential elections, Beshear managed to narrowly win his initial election for governor in 2019, as well as his re-election in 2023.