Kentucky House supports special election to fill any Senate vacancy in Mitch McConnell’s home state

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Republican-dominated Kentucky House voted Monday to remove any role for the state’s Democratic governor in deciding who would occupy a U.S. Senate seat if a vacancy occurred in the home state of 82-year-old Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

The legislation calls for a special election to fill any Senate vacancy from the Bluegrass State. The measure won overwhelming House passage to advance to the Senate, where the GOP also holds a supermajority.

Republican House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy has said his bill has nothing to do with McConnell, but instead reflects his long-running policy stance on how an empty Senate seat should be filled.

The House action comes several days after McConnell announced he will step down from his longtime leadership position in November. The decision set off a wave of speculation back home in Kentucky about the future of his seat.

In his speech from the Senate floor, McConnell left open the possibility that he might seek another term in 2026, declaring at one point: “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear — who won a resounding reelection victory last November over a McConnell protege — has denounced the Senate succession bill as driven by partisanship.

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