Kentucky Republicans are positioned to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear if he plans to appoint a successor to ailing GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell.
That law requires any Senate vacancy to be filled through a special election.
The 2024 law was passed over Mr. Beshear’s veto, but the governor said recently, amid the monthlong hospitalization of Mr. McConnell, that he’s prepared to go to court should any of the state’s seats become vacant.
“If we end up there, and I hope we don’t, there’s at least going to be probably a disagreement,” the governor said Sunday on MSNOW’s “Politics Nation.”
Kentucky GOP state Rep. Josh Calloway told The Washington Times that Mr. Beshear “has no plans” to appoint a Republican “and the people of Kentucky have no voice through the appointment.”
Mr. Calloway added, “We have a law in place, and so our responsibility is to make sure that the people’s voices are heard through the laws that we created.
“If he chooses not to follow the law, then there will definitely have to be something done in a legal manner to require that he follows the law.”
One name being floated for Mr. Beshear to appoint is former Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker, a Democrat. Mr. Booker is running for election to the U.S. Senate against Republican Rep. Andy Barr to fill the seat that Mr. McConnell will vacate in January following his retirement.
Mr. Beshear appointed Mr. Booker in January 2023 to lead the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement, a post he held until resigning last September.
Mr. Booker is known to hold liberal social justice stances, including the abolishment of ICE, fighting structural racism, advocating for Medicare for all, universal basic income and addressing environmental injustices in Black communities.
The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Beshear’s office for comment.
The governor criticized Republicans for passing the two 2024 laws on how the state would fill a vacant seat in Congress.
“At first [they attempted] to say they could submit a list of three people to me from the Republican Party and I’d have to pick,” he said. “Now they say I can’t fill a vacancy, but I’d have to call a special election.”
He said these laws may violate a provision in the state’s Constitution.
“[It] says I appoint all state officers when there’s a vacancy. The question is, does that apply to federal offices? Well, before there was ever a law in Kentucky on how this would work,” he said, “multiple appointments were made by governors, assumingly under that provision.”
Mr. Calloway told the Times that the state Legislature can make and change laws.
“The people of Kentucky asked us to put something in place that would allow them to be engaged and their voice to be a part of a replacement of that type of candidate and/or that type of position,” he said.
“And that’s exactly what we did. So, we listen to the people, and … the people want their voice heard should a Senate candidate not be able to or a senator not be able to fulfill their entire term.”
Not long following Mr. Beshear’s interview, Mr. McConnell’s office released a photo of the senator with his wife, Elaine Chao.
Mr. McConnell said his hospitalization on June 14 was because of a fall at home, which left him briefly unconscious. He also said he developed a mild case of pneumonia.
