Two years ago, I introduced legislation, House Bill 5034 , which proposed that there be special elections when there is a vacancy in a U.S. Senate seat representing Connecticut. Like most states, Connecticut law provides that the Governor choose a member of the Senate when someone leaves that office, and the Governor's selected person stays there until the next regular election - for as long as two full years.
My proposal was simple - let the people decide who represents them. It is already the process we use to fill a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives when someone leaves that office. There is no good reason for why the process for filling vacancies in the U.S. Senate should be any different.
In fact, my reason for proposing this legislation was that, the previous year, as Vice-Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, I worked on some technical, but important, changes in the law affecting special elections for U.S. House. While I was doing this work, I found it peculiar that there was a completely different area of law concerning U.S. Senate vacancies - with a very different, and much less democratic process. There was not time to take this issue up that year, but I decided I would bring it up again. That was where 2007 HB 5034 came from.
At the time, people who favored the idea that Gov. Rell should be able to choose a U.S. Senator, herself, opposed my proposal. There were a lot of unfair, unreasonable and, frankly, partisan accusations made about what should have been seen as a common-sense idea to replace an archaic and silly system with a law that would let the people choose who represents them in the Senate of the United States. Neither HB5034 nor a similar bill considered last year were approved against this unfortunate partisan backdrop.
However, the terrible scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich shows that my proposal should be re-considered this year and approved. As an article in the New York Times shows, Gov. Blagojevich's apparent attempt to use his sole power to name a Senator as an opportunity to make money for himself is only the latest in a long history of problems that are caused by governors having this power.
As Carl Hulse, for the Times, points out,
I certainly plan to propose it again.
My proposal was simple - let the people decide who represents them. It is already the process we use to fill a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives when someone leaves that office. There is no good reason for why the process for filling vacancies in the U.S. Senate should be any different.
In fact, my reason for proposing this legislation was that, the previous year, as Vice-Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, I worked on some technical, but important, changes in the law affecting special elections for U.S. House. While I was doing this work, I found it peculiar that there was a completely different area of law concerning U.S. Senate vacancies - with a very different, and much less democratic process. There was not time to take this issue up that year, but I decided I would bring it up again. That was where 2007 HB 5034 came from.
At the time, people who favored the idea that Gov. Rell should be able to choose a U.S. Senator, herself, opposed my proposal. There were a lot of unfair, unreasonable and, frankly, partisan accusations made about what should have been seen as a common-sense idea to replace an archaic and silly system with a law that would let the people choose who represents them in the Senate of the United States. Neither HB5034 nor a similar bill considered last year were approved against this unfortunate partisan backdrop.
However, the terrible scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich shows that my proposal should be re-considered this year and approved. As an article in the New York Times shows, Gov. Blagojevich's apparent attempt to use his sole power to name a Senator as an opportunity to make money for himself is only the latest in a long history of problems that are caused by governors having this power.
As Carl Hulse, for the Times, points out,
Given the prestige of a Senate seat and its magnetic allure to politicians, it is perhaps not surprising that when these vacancies come up, the process of awarding the office has become fraught with malfeasance and political peril.In the same Times article, Thomas E. Mann of the Brookings Institution had this to say:
“These temporary appointments have often been subject to abuse or tacky behavior,” said Mr. Mann, adding, “I suspect this will lead a number of states to dispense with the temporary appointments and go directly to a special election.”I suspect Mr. Mann is correct that states will soon begin replacing this silly old, problem-laden system with democracy. Connecticut should start this trend by approving the legislation I proposed.
I certainly plan to propose it again.
Update December 15th:
Thanks to Genghis Conn at Connecticut Local Politics for his blog post in support of this proposal.
Also, I offer my thanks for the kind words at NBPoliticus.
Thanks to Genghis Conn at Connecticut Local Politics for his blog post in support of this proposal.
Also, I offer my thanks for the kind words at NBPoliticus.
To further bolster the need for this, here are some notes about what Republicans in Illinois are doing on this issue (from AP writer Christopher Wills):
If it is a good idea in Illinois, it is in every state, including Connecticut.The GOP also plans to run television ads pressuring Democrats to approve a special election ... Illinois Republican Party chairman Andy McKenna told reporters the ads will "make the point that this is the people's seat, and the people deserve a special election."
