How do Midwestern states fill interim vacancies in their U.S. Senate seats?
With the spotlight on recent events in Illinois surrounding the filling of President Barack Obamas vacant U.S. Senate seat, there has been a lot of interest in how various states fill such vacancies, as well as about what changes have been proposed. Originally, the U.S. Constitution required state legislatures to fill any vacancies occurring in their U.S. Senate seats. But this was changed in 1913 with the passage of the 17th Amendment, which provides for the direct election of U.S. senators. The amendment includes a provision that allows state legislatures to give their governor the authority to make temporary appointments to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy until an election can be held. With this as the guiding principle, the most common practice has been to fill vacant U.S. Senate seats by means of a temporary appointment. In 38 states, law specifies that the governor has the direct authority to fill a vacancy with an interim appointment; this appointee then serves until the next statewi
