Mitch McConnell Rigged Kentucky’s Process So That Even If He Dies He Won’t Be Replaced With A Democrat

Last updated on July 27th, 2023 at 04:08 pm

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In 2021, Mitch McConnell had the Kentucky legislature change state law so Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear can’t choose his replacement.

The Courier-Journal reported in 2021:

The Republican-run Kentucky legislature on Monday easily overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of a notable bill that restricts his ability to fill any vacancies that arise if one of the state’s U.S. senators dies or leaves office early.

…

SB 228 changes that appointment process in key ways. Most notably, the governor must pick a temporary successor who shares the same political party as the departing senator.

It also makes them select that person from a list of three names provided by the executive committee of the departing senator’s state party.

Even though Kentucky’s governor is a Democrat, Mitch McConnell, and state Republicans have changed the law so that he will not be replaced by a Democratic senator. McConnell has gone so far as to rig the outcome of a Senate selection process even if he is dead.

Democrats might be thinking about the possibility that McConnell’s Senate seat could flip into their column after today’s incident where the Senate Minority Leader froze at a press conference, but even with a Democratic governor in Kentucky, there is no possibility that if McConnell leaves office before his term ends, his seat will turn blue.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association