Free Republic

NEW YORK – The departure of four sitting Democratic senators this year has cast a new — and at times, unflattering — light on the nation's governors and their outsize power to fill Senate vacancies. While governors must call a special election to replace members of the House who resign or die before their term is up, 38 states allow governors the sole power to appoint an interim senator, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. Just nine states require a special election to fill a Senate vacancy. In three other states — Hawaii, Utah and Wyoming — governors...