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this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2026
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I agree this whole controversy is attracting weird misinformation.
The state constitution gives the governor power to appoint replacements in the event of a vacancy.
The legislature passed a law in 2021 requiring the governor to choose an appointment from the list provided by the state party of the outgoing Senator's party.
Then, the legislature passed a law in 2024 prohibiting the governor from choosing a replacement at all, and requiring a special election as soon as possible, at least 56 days before the general election.
The governor has publicly stated his position that both laws are unconstitutional under the state constitution, and basically everyone believes that if McConnell's seat becomes vacant that he'll appoint a replacement as a Democrat.
McConnell's term expires at the end of this year, and the general election in November is already going to choose McConnell's full term replacement.
If both laws are unconstitutional: the fake deadline doesn't matter, because the governor can select a replacement without restrictions.
If only the 2024 law is unconstitutional (but the 2021 law is constitutional): hiding McConnell's death and delaying the vacancy is counterproductive for Republicans, because it just prevents the Republicans from filling McConnell's seat (where he's currently unable to vote) with a Republican who can vote.
If the 2024 law is constitutional: hiding McConnell's death and delaying the announcement doesn't do anything, because replacing a non-voting Senator with a vacancy doesn't change anything anyway, because the general election in November will determine who becomes Senator for the next term that starts on January 1.
Basically, the only way this date makes a difference is if it causes a special election to get the seat filled for the 3 months between September and December, and it's unclear which party would win that seat to basically tip the margin in the Senate up or down half a vote (and not enough to actually tip control of the Senate).
The timing of the Senate vacancy is a very low stakes issue, and doesn't clearly favor one party over the other.