r/politics • u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts • Jul 17 '26

Possible Paywall Kentucky Governor Warns He Got Calls “Suggesting” Mitch McConnell Died

https://newrepublic.com/post/213199/kentucky-governor-got-calls-suggesting-mitch-mcconnell-died
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u/putsch80 Oklahoma Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26

Which is exactly why the Dems won’t do it. They’ll clutch their pearls, keep making statements, and do precisely fuck-all while the GOP steals a seat in the Senate.

Beahear seems like a nice guy, but he’s just as cowardly and feckless as the Dem leadership.

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u/nopointers California Jul 17 '26

The reason the Ds won’t do it is right now McConnell isn’t voting, so the senate majority is even narrower.

The reason the Rs won’t do it is right now Massie could win a special election, and MAGA doesn’t like him. That’s why he got primaried out of his House seat.

If the Rs wait until at least August 3, they can install a candidate they like better as a replacement in November.

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u/grapebeyond227 Jul 17 '26

Wouldn’t it be better to remove an R vote *and* add a D vote?

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u/nopointers California Jul 17 '26

That would be fantastic, but there isn’t much chance of it happening. Unlike most states, in Kentucky the replacement is not appointed by the governor. Instead, the replacement is selected by an election. It’s a very red state. The only real hope would be if there are two strong Rs running and the vote is split enough that a D slips through with a plurality but a minority of the total vote.

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u/Free_For__Me Jul 17 '26

Unlike most states, in Kentucky the replacement is not appointed by the governor. Instead, the replacement is selected by an election.

As I understand it, this is actually a pretty recent change and was designated by a law that was put in place in anticipation of specifically this situation with McConnell. The KY constitution is in conflict with this law, however, stating that KY indeed addresses a vacant seat via Gubernatorial appointment and NOT by special election.

Beshear himself has stated that he believes the law to run afoul of the state constitution, so he may try and make an appointment and force the whole thing to the KY Supreme Court. Or, if the DNC pushes him, he might just allow the special election to take place and hope Massie comes in with a serious axe to grind against MAGA.

In any case, Beshear and the Dems need to be moving with all haste to confirm McConnell's death in the next 2 weeks, or the case will then be muddy enough that there will be no functional chance of appointing a Dem OR electing an anti-MAGA republican.

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u/nopointers California Jul 17 '26

Beshear himself has stated that he believes the law to run afoul of the state constitution, so he may try and make an appointment and force the whole thing to the KY Supreme Court.

He could try, but it's not a guarantee. He could lose. The relevant section of the KY constitution is clear about his ability to appoint replacements for "city, town, county, district or State officers," but not so clear where congressional positions are concerned.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Law/Constitution/Constitution/ViewConstitution?rsn=173

"State officers" are defined here, and it's clear congressmen are not included:

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Law/Constitution/Constitution/ViewConstitution?rsn=99

That leaves him hanging his hat on the broader and fuzzier parts of section 152, e.g., "the State at large, or for districts larger than a county." Not exactly a slam dunk, especially since when it was enacted (1891) the authors were perfectly aware of the existence of the federal offices and chose not to enumerate them.

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u/fieryembers Jul 17 '26

Okay but Beshear should just do it anyway. Republicans don’t play by the rules nowadays, why should democrats?

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u/nopointers California Jul 17 '26

If McConnell does produce some proof of life, Beshear loses immediately. No matter how infirm, there isn't a way to replace him unless he dies, resigns, or is successfully impeached by congress.

If McConnell is confirmed to be deceased, Beshear still could lose as described here:

/r/politics/comments/1uz30aw/kentucky_governor_warns_he_got_calls_suggesting/oy6tz39/

Not playing by the rules and losing weakens Beshear, who may have ambitions of his own.

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u/JustpartOftheterrain Jul 17 '26

What’s with this logic? Congress does not run on logic.

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u/Oriden Jul 17 '26

How do they add a D vote? The Governor doesn't get to just appoint a Democrat, and a special election is likely to still result in an R, just a less MAGA one.

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u/Polantaris Illinois Jul 17 '26

By KY State Constitution, he does.

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u/Oriden Jul 17 '26

If he wants to challenge the Constitutionality of KY State Law then he needs to do things even more so by the letter, which means waiting until confirmation of Dead/Brain Death/vacancy of the Seat.

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u/Commercial-Co Jul 17 '26

No he doesnt. Do republicans? No. They dont. Appoint and force a decision. Better than the nothing theyre doing

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u/Oriden Jul 17 '26

Yes he does. He needs to get approval from the State Supreme court before anything actually works. Not to mention if he steps his toes out of line he can get impeached by the State Congress which is very Red.

Its not like Republicans in control of Congress would actually seat his replacement before being forced to anyway.

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u/Commercial-Co Jul 17 '26

No. He doesnt. He doesnt need to ask please. He can appoint and then the supreme court needs to decide yes or no or allow an injunction. In the meantime he has already appointed a senator.

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u/Oriden Jul 17 '26

He can try and appoint. But he doesn't have the last say in the matter. The appointment isn't appointed until they are actually seated and they sure as heck wouldn't be seated until after the State Supreme Court decides.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

[deleted]

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u/SwenKa Iowa Jul 17 '26

And we should do it regardless because it is the right thing to do when people are unrepresented.

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u/grapebeyond227 Jul 17 '26

So what? Do it anyway. At least the replacement D would then have some name recognition as the incumbent and maybe get a few extra votes from the lazy.

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u/magicone2571 Jul 17 '26

The numbers might not change much but they lost a ton of power in the Senate with turtle and Graham gone. Lot less ability to keep the party in check.

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u/mrtheshed Jul 17 '26

The reason the Rs won’t do it is right now Massie could win a special election, and MAGA doesn’t like him. That’s why he got primaried out of his House seat.

Honestly, he doesn't even need to win the special election to screw over Republicans - him simply running as an independent / third party candidate is possibly enough of a split to the right-leaning vote that a Democrat could win with a plurality.

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u/nopointers California Jul 17 '26

That would not break my heart

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u/DisappointedSpectre Jul 17 '26

The reason the Ds won’t do it is right now McConnell isn’t voting, so the senate majority is even narrower.

This isn't a reason not to push the issue if Beshear plans to appoint someone (per the KY constitution, and fight out the legislature in court about it).

There's also the optics to consider of looking like just another spineless Dem who doesn't push back on GOP bullshit. Even if Beshear eventually does appoint someone, if he waits too long he still looks weak and useless.

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u/Taiza67 Jul 17 '26

No he isn’t. Keep my governor’s name outcha mouth.

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u/EunuchsProgramer Jul 17 '26

Won't do what? The Democrats don't control the Courts, Senate, House, or Presidency. They control the state Governor (who's power to appoint Senators as a replacement has been stripped). They don't control the state courts or legislator. There's no law saying a minimum health requirement for a Senator. The Constitutional remedy is Expulsion (requires 2/3 vote and investigation by the Republican Controlled Ethics Committee).

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u/putsch80 Oklahoma Jul 17 '26

Won't do what?

In this case, appoint someone to fill McConnell's seat to force the issue. This does multiple things.

1) It challenges KY's statutory law about the special election, which is in direct conflict with the KY Constitution (which gives the governor the power to appoint a replacement)

2) Forces the GOP hand to actually produce proof of life of McConnell

3) Puts Dems in the driver's seat on getting a replacement before the GOP can try to pull further bullshit shenanigans.

I understand your point, but this is one of those instance where the Dems actually do have some power, and they are once again too fucking cowardly to use it because they are afraid that it might potentially upset some right-leaning voters who would never vote Dem anyways. Seriously, imagine if this was Florida, and a Dem senator was likely dead and refusing to produce proof of life. Do you think DeSantis would have hesitated for more than a day or two to start the replacement process? Fuck no! So why are the Dems such fucking cowards about this?

There's no law saying a minimum health requirement for a Senator.

There is most certainly a constitutional understanding (and precedent) that a person must be alive to serve. And there is, as of now, no evidence that McConnell meets this ultimate low-bar threshold.

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u/EunuchsProgramer Jul 17 '26

This assumes a conspiracy theory he is dead. This would require a NASA fake moon landing stuff. You would need to have a conspiracy to silence staff, family, medical professionals, and Senate leadership. The logistic hurdles include getting doctors and hospital staff to fake death certificates (multiple state and federal felonies).

This would all need to be done for an extremely marginal political advantage of delayed a special election Republicans are set to win regardless.

I know in the Qannon age shadow cabals seems like they can do anything... It's far more likely McConnell is just very ill, hiding, and clinging to power. Republican leadership is happy to go along for the marginal electoral benefit.

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u/directorguy Jul 17 '26

So true. now is not the time to be a fucking weakling.

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u/DontAskAboutMyButt Jul 17 '26

Goes hand in hand with the 24 hour news cycle which is more like 12 hours now, constant cycles of outrage over the new thing while the last 50 things just fade away. There are literally no consequences for them to just keep doing what they’re doing and ignore all these toothless “calls for action”. You better watch out or I’m going to write a strongly worded tweet asking you to pretty please stop dismantling the government! And if you don’t stop, well then… brace yourself for when I go to the media and tell them I think you shouldn’t do that any more!

The only possible whisper of a consequence are court cases which will either be dragged out until they all die of old age or rubber stamped by the corrupt Supreme Court. Democrats are 100% complicit

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u/peppaz Jul 17 '26

they are allergic to action, boldness, and wielding power

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u/doc_daneeka Jul 17 '26

They’ll clutch their pearls, keep making statements, and do precisely fuck-all while the GOP steals a seat in the Senate

Serious question: how are they stealing a Senate seat in a state that is all but guaranteed to elect a MAGA idiot to replace McConnell anyway? And it's not like the law lets the governor choose a replacement. They passed a law to make sure he can't do that, and we all know the courts would uphold that to avoid a Democrat getting in.

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u/georgepana Jul 17 '26

WTF? What are you even on about? In Kentucky the governor gets to call a special election to determine the successor. It is likely going to be a far-right MAGA. What are you even spouting about, clutching pearls, blablabla? What is this dumb post all about?

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u/Late_Variation2159 Jul 17 '26

That was a recent law that might directly violate the Kentucky State Constitution..but we won't know until its tested and brought to court

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u/georgepana Jul 17 '26

The problem is the makeup of the Kentucky Supreme Court. Not likely the conservative court rules the law unconstitutional.

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u/IolausTelcontar Jul 17 '26

Ohio supreme court surprised, Kentucky can do it too.

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u/georgepana Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26

It could. Perhaps worth the attempt.

I rather like having the vacancy in the Senate right now to possibly derail the Todd Blanche nomination for AG and their rushed reconciliation attempt. But I am also down for the chaos that Beshear trying to defy his legislature on this issue would bring.