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Home / Illinois Scandal Spawns National DebateIllinois Scandal Spawns National Debate
Last Updated on Thursday, 12 March 2009 10:38 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 12 March 2009 10:38
From the Washington Post:
“I believe that those who want to be a U.S. senator should have to make their case to the people whom they want to represent, not just the occupant of the governor’s mansion,” Feingold said.
The 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, provides for the direct election of senators — previously, they had been chosen by state legislatures — but also allows states to give their governors the authority to make “temporary appointments” to fill vacant seats until elections are held.
After then-Sen. Barack Obama was elected president in November, governors filled vacant Senate seats in four states — Colorado, Delaware, Illinois and New York — and the scramble to replace Obama in Illinois was particularly notorious.