But wait! When the idiot voters of Missouri elected a dead man it wasn't the Republican runner up who went to the US Senate, it was an apointee of the Democratic Gov. Why is the court picking "de-facto winners". Why didn't these same rules apply to the widow Carnihan?
Different rules for state and federal candidates.
The only reason that the Dems got away with the Carnahan-Missouri "win" is because John Ashcroft is an ultimate gentleman and decided to not press the matter. The Republican-held Senate would have decided the matter and likely would have voted in Ashcroft's favor; he would be a US Senator today instead of a former Attorney General.