FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — The day after Sen. Mitch McConnell announced that he would step down from his role as the Republican leader, Kentucky's lawmakers took action on a bill that deals with U.S. Senate vacancies.
The House Elections, Constitutional Amendments, and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee voted to move House Bill 622 forward on Thursday. The measure calls for U.S. Senate vacancies in Kentucky to be filled through a special election, not a gubernatorial appointment.
Currently, Kentucky has no U.S. Senate vacancies. McConnell emphasized that he will serve out the remainder of his term. However, he did not say anything about 2026, when his seat is once again on the ballot. That has spurred speculation about whether he will run for re-election again.
So, is the timing of HB 622 intentional? The bill's sponsor, House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy, clarified that it has nothing to do with McConnell.
"[I] had no idea that the Senator was going to make his announcement yesterday," said Rudy.
But Rudy added that "nobody is guaranteed tomorrow."
"Not Senator Paul. Not Senator McConnell. Not myself," he said.
Rudy believes that Kentuckians want to have a say in the event that a U.S. Senate seat is left empty.
"People want to elect their United States senator. And should we have a vacancy, I think this is the preferred mechanism and this is what the people of Kentucky would want," Rudy said.
Rudy explained that he has been against gubernatorial appointments for Senate seats since the situation in Illinois in 2008. Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was accused of trying to sell former president Barack Obama’s seat when he left the U.S. Senate for the White House.
What is Kentucky's current protocol for U.S. Senate vacancies?
In 2021, the Republican-controlled legislature enacted a new law that says the governor can select a replacement for a US senator from a list of three provided by a committee of the vacating senator’s party. Before that, such restrictions did not exist.
Gov. Andy Beshear sees the changes as an attack on executive power.
"The same authority that Paul Patton and Ernie Fletcher and Steve Beshear and Matt Bevin had is the type of authority that they're trying to tear away from me and my time as governor," he said.
