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If a politician leaves his office,who should get to decide who the replacement is?

If a politician leaves his office,who should get to decide who the replacement is?

  • The people, by having another election.

    Votes: 11 68.8%

  • A governor or some other elected official.

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • The politician leaving his office(assuming he left on good terms)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The opponent of the politician leaving office.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • other

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • Total voters
    16
Re: If a politician leaves his office,who should get to decide who the replacement is

Having the Governor pick a Senator's replacement is a throwback to the days before passage of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, when Senators were appointed by the various states. The mistake with that amendment, IMHO, is that the door was still left open to elected officials to decide on a replacement, instead of directly electing a replacement.

However, there is a pretty neat loophole in the 17th Amendment...

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
Click to expand...
So the state Legislative branch giveth, and the state Legislative branch taketh away. Time for the Legislature of Illinois to get off their collective asses and taketh away. If they really believe that the present Illinois governor should be stripped of the power to appoint Obama's replacement, then the ball is in their court. It's time to slam dunk that puppy.
 
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