Fill Senate Vacancies by Elections, Not Gubernatorial Appointments

By LiAnna D. -- Fill Senate Vacancies by Elections, Not Gubernatorial Appointments

The Rod Blagojevich-Roland Burris debacle and the will-she won't-she Caroline Kennedy back-and-forth have made clear the need to eliminate the ridiculous practice of governors getting to appoint people into empty senate seats.

And luckily for us, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold has a solution. Senator Feingold plans to introduce an amendment to the Constitution requiring special elections to fill an empty Senate Seat. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Feingold released the following statement:

The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments to vacant Senate seats make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution gave the citizens of this country the power to finally elect their senators. They should have the same power in the case of unexpected mid term vacancies, so that the Senate is as responsive as possible to the will of the people. I plan to introduce a constitutional amendment this week to require special elections when a Senate seat is vacant, as the Constitution mandates for the House, and as my own state of Wisconsin already requires by statute. As the Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee, I will hold a hearing on this important topic soon.

Nate Silver of 538 runs down the arguments for such an amendment. House seats already require a special election, so why don't senate seats? Some states already mandate special elections, but not all do. And the gubernatorial appointees rarely win re-election bids.

Perhaps most importantly, there's no indication that so amending the Constitution at this point would favor one party or the other. Silver's analysis reveals that there are 14 Republicans whose replacements would be selected by a Democratic governor and 14 Democrats whose replacements would be selected by a Republican governor. A quick scan of the left- and right-wing blogs reveals bipartisan support for Feingold's proposed amendment.

Amendments are a challenge to get through Congress, but this one has a good chance. Don't be surprised if we soon have a 28th Amendment to the Constitution.