Ken Cuchinelli: Here's How Virginia's Succession Law Works

Yeah I know I said it was a waste of your time to even talk about this, but then I needed a quick post.

If the governor were to resign, the lieutenant governor -- Justin Fairfax-- would assume the office of governor for the duration of the governor's term...

If the lieutenant governor were elevated to the governorship or if the lieutenant governor resigned -- now a genuine possibility -- then the current president pro tempore of the State Senate "assumes the duties" of the lieutenant governor. Note that the president pro tempore does not assume the office of lieutenant governor. It is a subtle difference, but the office of lieutenant governor would be left open until the next statewide election in 2021.

The current president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate is Sen. Steve Newman of the Lynchburg area. Newman is a Republican -- a mild-mannered conservative who is well-liked on both sides of the aisle.

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It is worth noting that the entire General Assembly is up for election this year and the state senate is currently 21-19 in favor of the Republicans. If the Democrats take control, they can elect their own president pro tempore of the Senate, who would then have his or her own senate vote and also be able to break ties.

That gets us up to Sunday of this incredible week. Since then, things have become even more strange.

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Suddenly, [after the revelation that AG Mark Herring also wore blackface brown make-up], Democrats like Sen. Mark Warner, who were calling for Northam to resign are pointedly not calling for Herring to resign. Why? Because he is the last of the three Democrats in the order of succession to the governor’s office. Next in line would be the Republican speaker of the House, Kirk Cox.

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If for some reason Cox couldn’t ascend to the governorship, the final element in the Virginia succession is for the House of Delegates to elect a new governor.

Hm, I don't see anything in there about appointing replacements to these elected positions.

But Democrats will find a way.

Republicans should definitely attempt impeaching them. Democrats will block that, of course -- but they'll be admitting they're okay with racism and "credibly alleged" rape just before the vote for the state legislature.

posted by Ace of Spades at 04:06 PM

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