The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Alex]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I'm not following this story in particular ... but what if he can't serve? Does the governor appoint someone, and is the governor of his state a Republican? Is there another election? What's the procedure.

The governor appoints a replacement for the remainder of the term (two years). It is a Republican governor so presumably he'd appoint a Republican.

This is pretty much standard practice. The last time this happened was in 2000 and the Democrat governor of Georgia appointed a Dem to replace a dead Republican.

However, so long as this guy is alive there is no mechanism in place to force his resignation. If he dies it is in the governor's hands but if he is alive and refuses (or his handlers refuse) to resign then he would technically be in office for the next two years but never participate. This too has been done before several times when senators have been medically incapacitated. I think the record is three years for time technically in office while performing no duties of office.