CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Is Sen. Joe Manchin going to run for governor in 2016?
For now, only he knows.
But if he does, and he wins, Republicans in the West Virginia Senate want to make sure that he doesn’t get to choose who serves the remainder of his term in the U.S. Senate.
The state Senate passed a bill (SB 548) on Sunday, strictly along party lines, to change how vacant seats in the U.S. Senate are filled.
Manchin, D-W.Va., has repeatedly declined to say whether or not he plans to finish his Senate term, which runs through 2018. He has said that he will make a decision by this spring or summer, and on Sunday his spokesman said that nothing has changed.
If he were to run and win, Manchin would leave the Senate with two years left in his term. Under current law, the governor would appoint someone to serve those two years. The Secretary of State’s Office has told senators that the governor can appoint someone to fill a U.S. Senate seat, rather than hold a special election, if there are less than 28 months remaining in the Senate term.
The legislation passed by the Senate would require the governor to call a special election to fill a vacant Senate seat…
