No they took away his power to appoint a replacement, which is still dubious because that’s in the KY constitution. The method he can use is calling a special election.
Exactly. Here’s where democrats really need to take a page out of the GOP playbook. Do the thing anyway, let the Kentucky GOP file a lawsuit, and make the courts determine if it’s within their power to do it without amending the state constitution.
YES, this is what needs to happen. I'm not saying we should stoop down and play dirty like the GOP but Democrats need to at LEAST start playing the same fucking game!
If this was a state with a GOP Governor and a Dem Senator I can promise you the Gov would've already done EVERYTHING he could to appoint a new Senator.
WHYYYY are Democrats so weak and ineffectual? The GOP has gotten where it is because Democrats REFUSE to do anything except try to keep the status quo, we are WAY beyond status quo at this point and they still do nothing. This is why I'm voting straight DSA from now on.
Incorrect. Vote for candidates that do not take corporate dollars. Mamdanis and AOCs.
And then stop worrying about the ad money. What candidates need is travel money and the ability to connect supporters. We can be the infrastructure to help that. The only reason the rich win the money game is because they make you think it takes money to win.
We have way more people power than they have money.
This is the most defeatist and frankly bot sounding post ever. Vote against big money in politics. We need to dismantle citizens united. Money isn't speech and corporations aren't people.
I think the whole "why doesn't Bashear appoint someone" line is being pushed by people who want to make the Dems look bad.
Bashear won't appoint someone because it's bad for the Democrats plain and simple. The new appointee is required by law to also be approved by the republican party of Kentucky so you're functionally giving republicans an extra vote in the United States senate while also breaking the law.
But because people want to portray the democrats as Weak reddit comments that act confused as to why he isn't doing this get upvoted.
Like seriously, what do you gain if Bashear appoints a republican senator to congress?
"Make the dems look bad" hahaha christ this country is cooked.
The GOP is run by a fcking pedo cult destroying and grifting this country into the ground and you idiots are worried about the Dems "looking bad" by actually doing what needs to be done.
They are playing the same game. The dissonance you expect them to play the game in certain way. They don't. They represent the same capitalist class interest as the Republicans, and it's not yours.
Ask for forgiveness, not permission. That should be on the GOP's 'coat of arms' in Latin - Veniam pete, non permissionem - (used a translator for this so it may need tweaking).
Appointing a new senator would actually end up hurting Democrats more than Republicans.
The way the appointment process would work is that the Republican party would give the governor a short list of 3 candidates and the governor picks from those 3.
So the governor would have to appoint a republican to the senate, which functionally gives the republicans an extra vote (since McConnell hasn't been voting).
And in the long term, the next governor of Kentucky is probably going to be a Republican, having a special election makes it much easier to get a democratic senator in in the rare even that the next senator from Kentucky passes.
He should appoint someone anyway, make a whole media story about it, get Republicans on the record saying he cant do that so he can call on them to call a special election. He's losing the momentum and the Republicans are going to get away with this because of more Democratic fear of confrontation
which is still dubious because that’s in the KY constitution.
Not exactly. What's in the KY constitution is the ability to fill statewide KY offices. It doesn't specifically mention federal office, like US Senate.
Didn't Colorado or Wisconsin or something do something similar? Republicans took away power from the office as soon as they knew it was going to a Democrat.
The amount of people who think they are making a point by giving the GOP back a vote on the floor is really making me sad. Reflexive anger at "The Democrats," no matter what they do.
The republicans have no incentive to cover up this death, they aren't that afraid of Massie (who may not even run, will be dumped on by Trump, and votes with Republicans on 98% of all issues anyway).
That's why this whole conspiracy theory makes no sense. There's no motivation to hide his death. They gain nothing and are actually hurting their position in the senate being down a vote.
Beshear was supposed to be on the short list for president, a popular red state Democratic governor, but i think his handling of this McConnell situation is disqualifying. We need a fighter who is going to hold the criminals of this administration to account, not a do-nothing hack
Wait, wait, guys, come on, the nation just needs to heal, none of this prosecuting our “political enemies,” history will be the judge (in 100 years), let’s not rush to hold people accountable
why are you so desperate to replace mcconnell with a living, breathing, voting republican, and how do you think calling a special election here is being "tough"
The dems need to undo the "norm" mentality -- its failing them dramatically since mcconnel took over the senate. Every time the dems give reps the benefit of anything reps use it to their advantage 10x.
"Should I drive to the hospital and do a wellness check? NAH! That would never work."
Just fucking replace the dude. If he is alive then he'll show up and contest it. If he's alive but unable to show up and contest it then he's unfit for office anyways and the replacement is valid.
I love how McConnell being in the hospital robs Senate Republicans of a vote and their leader, but people like you see that as a bad thing. The governor also can't appoint a replacement there's a whole process that wouldn't make logistical sense:
If McConnell were to vacate his senate seat before his term ends, it may be tempting for Democrats to think Beshear, the Democratic governor of Kentucky, could appoint someone from his own party.
That’s not the case, however, because of a recent change in state law. Kentucky is now one of four US states where the governor does not have authority to fill Senate vacancies.
In 2024, Kentucky’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a law requiring Senate vacancies to be filled by a special election, which must be called by the governor.
But experts say holding a special election this year would be fraught with challenges, one of which is timing.
The new law says the governor must give 63 days’ notice before the special election. Senate hopefuls would have to file their candidacy no later than 56 days prior to the vote.
Even if McConnell’s Senate seat were vacated immediately, the earliest a special election could occur is September.
But experts say that cobbling together a special election would not make sense, since November’s midterm elections are barely three and a half months away. McConnell’s Senate seat is up for grabs in that race.
“Setting up the process would take time, so we wouldn’t get a senator in office very quickly, even if this process kicked off soon,” said Voss, the political science professor. “The probability that we’d get a replacement ahead of time is pretty low.”
Watson, the Republican strategist, agrees. He questions the efficiency of rushing to hold a special election, when the midterms are on November 3.
“We’re getting pretty close to Election Day,” Watson said. “They’re not going to put the commonwealth through the expense of having another special election just so someone could be a US senator for effectively one month.”
No, it's a bad thing that a sitting senator is at best incapacitated or even dead and his office is lying about it putting out fake images to cover it up
No, I mean how they're making excuses to not follow the law. "Oh we can't give the people what they want because it'll be too much work for us." And then they turn around and call us lazy.
In the article you quoted about following the law. It points out the recent change where the governor can no longer appoint due to a recent law change. The republicans literally made this change when they saw they were going to have a Democrat governor. Republicans in power notoriously don’t follow the laws or change them right before they lose power and then shout about how everyone should follow our laws. It’s really stupid and yes, you are making excuses for them by touting their bs.
Not really. The KY constitution—at least on its face—grants power to fill vacancies for statewide KY offices, like AG. It doesn't, at least not clearly, apply to federal office, like the US Senate.
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u/Slight_Beach_641 4h ago
I love all the updates from the governor. "Well, I've tried nothing, and I'm all out of ideas on getting to the bottom of this"