I see that now the Kansas GOP, dissatisfied with its lesser position now that there’s a Democratic governor, is pushing forward some legislation to at least hold what they have, which appears to my untrained eye an unwarranted intrusion on the Kansas executive branch:
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s power to fill vacancies in some top state posts would be stripped and given to party leadership under new legislation introduced in the House.
Under the state Constitution, the governor holds the power to appoint a replacement if the office of the attorney general or secretary of state becomes vacant. HCR 5013, however, would allow the legislature to move that power to party delegates. The system would work much in the same way legislative vacancies are filled now, Rep. Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, said.
“More or less we’re just modeling the appointment process after how we appoint legislators,” Carpenter said.
The appointment power would fall to the delegates of whichever party last held the executive office. For example, if Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, were to leave, it would be up to to the Republican party to choose a replacement.
It “allows both parties to have a fair shake,” Carpenter said. [The Kansas City Star]
The Democrats disagree, naturally. And, of course, there are some restive Republicans holding those Executive branch positions. This legislation would give them free rein to resign to pursue higher office without damaging their Party’s power.
There’s certainly positives to having office-holders remain in office for their full term, and not skipping out. How this turns out should be interesting.
