| So Republican crumb-bum Haley Barbour wants to use his "executive privilege" to hand-pick Trent Lott's successor instead of calling for a special election.
The only problem? The law, while not exactly worded artfully, indicates that a special election would be required if Lott retires before the New Year:
(1) If a vacancy shall occur in the office of United States Senator from Mississippi by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving official notice of such vacancy, issue his proclamation for an election to be held in the state to elect a Senator to fill such unexpired term as may remain, provided the unexpired term is more than twelve (12) months and the election shall be held within ninety (90) days from the time the proclamation is issued and the returns of such election shall be certified to the Governor in the manner set out above for regular elections, unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election, in which event the Governor's proclamation shall designate the general election day as the time for electing a Senator, and the vacancy shall be filled by appointment as hereinafter provided.
And, as Kos notes, Lott will most certainly be jumping ship before 2008. He's not in this to do any favors for the GOP -- he's in this to cash in on some of that K Street scratch, and to do so in short order, he'll have to avoid the "revolving door" legislation which will make him subject to a two-year ban on lobbying activities. When the choice is getting a fat stack of cash as a corporate crony or doing a solid for Team GOP, the choice is easy for a guy like Lott: take the money and run.
So, as election law guru Rick Hasen contends, Haley is bending the law -- if not breaking it -- by insisting that the special election coincide with the November 2008 elections:
I agree with the reporter from The Hill that if Sen. Lott retires this year (as he has an incentive to do to be able to lobby his colleagues in one year, rather than two under the new lobbying law), Gov. Barbour would have to call an election in early 2008, not November. As I read the statute, the Governor has 10 days to issue a proclamation setting a special election after receiving official notice of the vacancy, and it must be set within 90 days from the time of the proclamation. The only exception to this rule applies when "the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election." In that case, the election is set for the same as the general election date. So the key question is the date of the "vacancy," not the date of the official notice or the date of the proclamation of the special election. If Lott indeed resigns in 2007, the vacancy is in 2007 and the election must occur under the 10/90 day rule described above.
However, the Mississippi Secretary of State agrees with Barbour:
The Mississippi secretary of state's office said early Monday that state law appeared to require a special election within 90 days if Lott retires in 2007. After consulting with lawyers, however, a spokesman said the secretary of state concurred with Barbour based on a technicality in the letter of the law.
In an exception to the 90-day rule, the law says the governor "shall designate" the special election for the same day as the general election if a vacancy occurs the same calendar year as a statewide election. Mississippi had a statewide election earlier this month, so Barbour would be setting the special election for the next statewide election in 2008.
The secretary of state in Mississippi is Eric Clark, a third-term Democrat. His spokesman agreed that Barbour was using a technicality.
"That's exactly what it is," spokesman Kell Smith said. "And we agree with that."
I'm not lawyer, but this seems like a pretty obvious distortion of the intent and spirit of the law to me. Could it be challenged in court? I certainly hope so, and the Mississippi Democratic Party is spoiling for a fight on this issue.
The importance of having a prompt special election is pretty clear: if Barbour is allowed to railroad his hand-picked crony into the Senate, that appointee will have the advantages of incumbency for nearly a year. If a Democrat like Mike Moore is to have a good shot at this race, the best bet is a special election within 100 days of Lott's retirement, just like the law requires. |
