Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey watches to pick a successor to the late Republican Sen. John McCain following a series of remembrance services this week.
McCain, a longtime lawmaker, GOP presidential candidate and occasional thorn in President Donald Trump’s side, died Saturday at age 81 after a contest with brain cancer. The Navy veteran, who survived years of torture as a jailbird of war in Vietnam, will be laid to rest Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.
Governmental law dictates that the governor appoints someone to fill the open Senate install. Ducey, a Republican, will wait until McCain is buried to dub a replacement in the Senate.
“Out of respect for the life and legacy of Senator John McCain and his derivation, Governor Ducey will not be making any announcements about an appointment until after the Senator is arranged to rest,” Ducey advisor Daniel Ruiz II said in a statement concluded the weekend, according to AZ Central.
The governor is expected to restore the GOP’s 51-49 seat the greater part in the Senate as members go through the critical decision of whether to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s deficient choice for the Supreme Court during his presidency. While it is unclear now who Ducey want pick, reports suggest state Republicans could push him in two hugely different directions: a GOP senator with an independent streak who emulates McCain, or a Republican who wants to be a champion of Trump’s agenda.
Ducey’s choice would serve at not any through 2020. The state would hold a special election that year to fill up the remainder of McCain’s term through 2022, according to Matt Roberts, a spokesman for the Arizona secretary of submit’s office.
Another election for McCain’s seat would take cut down to size in 2022, because the senator won re-election for a six-year term in 2016.