If a senator dies while in office, who replaces him or her until their term is over?
With the death of Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone just 11 days before Election Day, a lot of attention focused on the Democratic Party’s scramble to fill the late senator’s place on the ballot. But regardless of the election outcome, Wellstone’s seat in the Senate had to be filled between his death and the swearing-in of the newly elected senator. According to the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it’s the responsibility of the state’s governor and legislature to fill the vacant seat. This amendment is best known for giving the voting public the power to directly elect its senators. But the second clause of the amendment deals with replacing a senator if she or he dies in office, resigns before the next election, or is expelled. The clause to the
