Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The New Alaska Senator Is...

So say convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) wins his reelection next week but has to go to prison and can't serve his term. It would be up to the governor of Alaska to appoint a replacement Senator. Assuming Obama wins, would Palin appoint herself? Back in July, the New York Times speculated on just this happening.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Palin is not permitted to appoint US Senators according to Alaska law as of 2004.

http://www.ncsl.org/ncsldb/elect98/irsrch.cfm?recid=2330

State Legislative Elections
Initiatives and Referenda
Total Count=1

Alaska Initiatives and Referenda

Ballot Measure 4 Temporary Replacement of U.S. Senator
Election: General -- 2004
Type: Initiative Status: Pass (Yes votes: 55.6%)
Topic Areas: | Elections & Redistricting |
Summary: This measure would repeal state law that allows the Governor to appoint a person to temporarily fill a vacant seat in the United States Senate until an election can be held and certified. Under this measure a vacated seat would remain vacant for three to five months, leaving Alaska without full representation in the Senate. Other provisions are identical to existing law and those parts of the law remain unchanged. Current law requires that a senate vacancy be filled by special election, or regular election if the vacancy occurs less than 60 days before the primary election for that seat.
(2330)

Howard said...

Well that's nice.