Is Andy Beshear the new Mitch McConnell?
6th September 2023
In a move that is right out of the hard political playbook of Mitch McConnell himself, the Democratic governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear is telegraphing that he has no intention of following a state law requiring him to name a Republican should the senator choose to resign.
For months in Kentucky, the political conversation has swirled around the possibility that Beshear, locked in a tight re-election race against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, would follow the 2021 law requiring him to name a member of the same party to any congressional opening. The law, passed by the Republican legislature overriding Beshear’s veto, would stand in the way of the governor using the opportunity to temporarily name a Democrat to hold the seat — but there have already been signs that the governor considers this state requirement unconstitutional.