Blog Post | 115 KY. L. J. ONLINE | November 4, 2026
The Empty Seat: How U.S. Senate Vacancies Are Filled in the Commonwealth of Kentucky
By: Caitlyn E. Bell, Staff Editor, Vol. 115
Each state is allowed to choose how its vacant U.S. Senate seats are filled.[1] Some states fill these vacancies through appointments, others by special elections, and still others through a combination of the two.[2] Kentucky is one of only five states that fill these vacancies solely through special election.[3] However, this has not always been the case.[4]
From 1942 until 2021, the authority to appoint someone to fill a vacant seat resided with the governor.[5] In 2021, however, the Kentucky legislature passed a bill that changed how U.S. Senate vacancies were filled in the Commonwealth.[6] Under this legislation, if a vacancy were to arise, the political party to which the recently-vacated Senator belonged would submit a list of three candidates to the governor.[7] The governor would then choose one of the three proposed candidates to fill the vacant seat.[8] Yet, in 2024, the Kentucky legislature again passed a bill that changed how U.S. Senate vacancies were filled.[9] Under this new act, U.S. Senate vacancies are to be filled exclusively through special elections.[10]
Vacancies can arise in many different ways. They often arise from death or resignation.[11] But, they could also arise if an election occurred and no one was elected to the Senate seat or if, after someone took office, it were to be discovered that that person did not fulfill the constitutional requirements to hold it.[12] But regardless of how the vacancy arises, it is filled in the same way.[13]
In some states, the governor may appoint someone to fill the seat until a special election can be held; however, that is not the case in Kentucky.[14] In Kentucky, the governor may not appoint someone for the interim.[15] Instead, the seat must remain open until the results of the special election are certified.[16]
Today, U.S. Senate vacancies in the Commonwealth of Kentucky necessarily trigger a special election.[17] There is not an official timeline for special elections, in Kentucky.[18] Although the governor does not have substantive power over the filling of a vacancy, the first step is for the governor to issue and sign a proclamation stating the details of the special election.[19] The governor is to mail the proclamation to the sheriff of every county at least sixty-three days before the election is to take place.[20] The sheriffs are to give notice to the citizens of their counties at least fifty-six days before the election.[21] Further, party nominations are also to be submitted at least fifty-six days before the election.[22] The winner of the special election, upon certification, will take office immediately and be able to serve as Senator until the end of the term.[23]
Despite the multiple recent changes to how U.S. Senate vacancies are filled in Kentucky, it is likely that this new special elections-only method will last for a while. The appointment method used from 1942 until 2021 gave great power to the governor.[24] The method used from 2021 until 2024 restricted that power.[25] The special elections-only method adopted in 2024 removes all special authority from the governor in this respect and gives it to the citizens.[26] This newest method greater aligns with the Seventeenth Amendment’s directive to let “the people fill the vacancies by election.”[27] As a result, this newest method is likely here to stay.
[1] 2 U.S.C. § 8.
[2] See Vacancies in the United States Senate, Nat’l Conf. State Legislatures (July 29, 2026), https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/vacancies-in-the-united-states-senate.
[3] U.S. Senate Vacancies: How Are They Filled?, Congress.Gov (July 16, 2024), congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/HTML/IF11907.web.html (stating that Kentucky, along with Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Oregon, and North Dakota, fills U.S. Senate vacancies exclusively through special elections).
[4] See Mason Brighton, How a U.S. Senate Vacancy Would Be Filled in Kentucky, Spectrum News 1 (July 7, 2026, at 17:43 ET), https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2026/07/07/senate-vacancy-procedure; Keely Doll & Killian Baarlaer, What Kentucky Law Says About Filling a US Senate Vacancy, Louisville Courier J. (July 8, 2026, at 08:07 ET), https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/kentucky-law-says-filling-us-120725858.html.
[5] See Brighton, supra note 4.
[6] Brighton, supra note 4.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Doll & Baarlaer, supra note 4.
[11] See Jennifer E. Manning, Eric R. Petersen & Tyler L. Wolanin, Senators Who Die In Office: History and Current Practices, Congress.Gov (May 1, 2023), https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12393 (stating that “[s]ince 1789, 301 Senators have died in office”); Barbara Hoberock, Mullin Resigns from US Senate, Okla. Voice (Mar. 23, 2023, at 21:04), https://oklahomavoice.com/2026/03/23/mullin-resigns-from-us-senate-oklahoma-governor-to-appoint-his-replacement (stating that U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin resigned from the U.S. Senate).
[12] 2 U.S.C. § 8. See e.g., Jane Kennedy, James Shields: County Tyrone’s Gift to America, Celtic Junction Arts Center (2022), https://celticjunction.org/cjac/arts-review/issue-18-imbolc-2022/james-shields-county-tyrones-gift-to-america (telling of James Shields, a man who was elected to the U.S. Senate but had to vacate upon a finding that he had not been a citizen for the duration required by the Constitution).
[13] Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.720.
[14] Vacancies in the United States Senate, supra note 2.
[15] Id.
[16] Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.775; see id.
[17] Brighton, supra note 4.
[18] Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.720.
[19] Id.
[20] Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.740.
[21] Id.
[22] Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.770.
[23] Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.775; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 118.720.
[24] See Brighton, supra note 4.
[25] Id.
[26] See id.
[27] See U.S. Const. amend. XVII.