This May Come Back to Haunt Them

Democrats are trying to spin the Republican gubernatorial victories on Tuesday as insignificant because Governors don't vote on legislation. They claim that the Democrats scored the real victories because they gained 2 seats in the House (technically, one of those seats was already under Democrat control, so it wasn't really a gain, but that's neither here nor there).

Ah, but there's a bit of a snag. Governors don't vote on legislation, but they can have a say in national issues. Under the Constitution, Governors have the power to appoint Senators if the state legislatures give the Governor the power to do it. On Tuesday, Republicans picked up the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia. A little research shows that the Senate seats in both states are currently held by...Democrats. So, in order for the Republican Governors in these states to exercise their Constitutional duty, the Democrat Senators would need to be in a spot where they could no longer serve. (And for the Leftists out there reading this, I'm not advocating violence against these Senators.)

As of this writing, New Jersey's Senators are Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, and Virginia's Senators are Mark Warner and Jim Webb.

Lautenberg is the second oldest member of the Senate, behind West Virginia's Robert Byrd. That makes age a potential issue.

Robert Menendez was accused of a conflict of interest ethics violation in 2006 when it was discovered that he rented out property to a non-profit organization that receives federal funds. As of this writing, no charges have been brought, but one cannot discount corruption in New Jersey as a potential issue.

Mark Warner seems to be pretty safe. No major scandals and still young enough to be reasonably healthy.

Jim Webb also seems pretty safe. The only controversy surrounding him surrounds an article he wrote in 1979 titled "Women Can't Fight." Given the age of the article, I wouldn't think it would cause a problem for him in the short term.

If something should happen to any of these Senators (which, again, I don't advocate anybody reading this taking action to make that something happen), the Republican Governors might be able to step in and appoint a new Senator. And what party would their replacements most likely be?

Republican.

Still think Governorships aren't important on a national level?