Updated

Updated · Forbes · Jul 8

Right-Wing Figures Push Thomas Massie for McConnell Seat as 84-Year-Old Senator’s Health Fuels Vacancy Talk

Updated

Updated · Forbes · Jul 8

Right-Wing Figures Push Thomas Massie for McConnell Seat as 84-Year-Old Senator’s Health Fuels Vacancy Talk

Q: What precedent did Kentucky's 2024 law set for how states handle Senate vacancies nationwide?

Kentucky’s 2024 law did not create a new national model; it placed the state in a small minority of states that require U.S. Senate vacancies to be filled by special election rather than by a temporary gubernatorial appointment. House Bill 622 removed the governor’s power to appoint an interim senator and required voters to fill any vacancy through a special election. In that sense, the law’s significance was that it reinforced the less common approach allowed under the Seventeenth Amendment: states may let governors make temporary appointments, but they do not have to. Nationwide, the practical precedent was limited. Kentucky became one of only a handful of states following this route, joining states such as Wisconsin, Rhode Island and North Dakota. Most states still allow governors to make temporary Senate appointments until an election is held. So the broader takeaway is that Kentucky’s law set a recent example of a state choosing to restrict executive appointment power and rely entirely on elections for Senate vacancies. It was notable, but it did not establish a new nationwide standard. Some legal uncertainty also remained because the law had not yet been tested in court.

2 articles · Updated · Forbes · Jul 8

Steve Bannon and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among right-wing figures promoting Rep. Thomas Massie as a possible replacement if Mitch McConnell resigns before his term ends.
McConnell, 84, has been hospitalized since June 14 after being found unconscious, and his office has disclosed little beyond saying he is improving and still handling Senate and Kentucky matters.
John Thune’s office and Kentucky commentator Scott Jennings said they spoke with McConnell this week, countering online claims that he was braindead or on life support.
Kentucky’s 2024 vacancy law would require a special election rather than a gubernatorial appointment, but if a vacancy occurs after Sept. 8 — within 56 days of Nov. 3 — the seat could stay empty until January.
Massie has not said he would run, and any special-election winner would serve only until January, when the November winner — likely Republican Andy Barr in the solidly red seat — takes office.