Who Will Replace Mitch McConnell If He Retires?

As WLTR reported Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell shockingly froze at the podium during a Senate GOP leadership press conference and colleagues escorted him to the side.

Mitch McConnell “BOT” Freezes Up, Shuts Down Mid-Sentence?

Here's the footage:

Odd moment: McConnell freezes at start of Senate GOP leadership press conference and is escorted to the side by his colleagues pic.twitter.com/hT5bLnstOS

— Raquel Martin (@RaquelMartinTV) July 26, 2023

Other angles:

Mitch McConnell stopped speaking and froze at the podium today.

…he had to be physically walked back behind closed doors.

That man is not well. It’s time to send the folks who have been in D.C. for decades into retirement pic.twitter.com/GA8Xb1EDVq

— Ryan Shead (@RyanShead) July 26, 2023

NBC News confirmed the event:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suddenly stopped speaking during a weekly Republican leadership news conference on Wednesday afternoon, appearing to freeze, and then went silent and was walked away.

McConnell, R-Ky., had been making his opening remarks when he stopped talking. His Republican colleagues asked if he was OK, and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming escorted McConnell away from the cameras and reporters.

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa made a sign of the cross as if she was praying for McConnell.

A few minutes later, McConnell walked back to the news conference by himself. When asked about his health, he said he was fine.

McConnell’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

In a Thursday update, CNN reported the 81-year-old senator has fallen multiple times this year.

Per CNN:

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who froze during a news conference Wednesday and earlier this year suffered a concussion after falling down, has also endured two other falls this year, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The first known time, in February, occurred in Finland when McConnell and a US delegation met with the Finnish president in Helsinki, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

As he got out of his car on a snowy day and walked towards his meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the GOP leader tripped and fell, the sources said of the incident which hasn’t been previously reported. He dusted himself off and continued on with the meeting.

“It was also very icy to the top,” said GOP Sen. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican who witnessed the incident. “So, it could happen any of us.”

Budd added, “All of us are concerned,” though, he said, McConnell appeared normal after the Finland fall.

That incident in Finland occurred just days before McConnell fell in March at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, where he slammed his head and suffered a concussion and broken ribs, which sidelined him for nearly six weeks before he returned to the Senate.

And just this month at Reagan National Airport in Washington, McConnell was getting off the plane when he tripped and fell, a source familiar with this incident said. He returned to the Capitol later that day. NBC reported on the fall at the airport earlier on Wednesday.

Many people have called for McConnell to retire.

McConnell's term doesn't end until 2027.

He would be pushing 85 by the end of his term.

That brings us to the question of his replacement.

How would Kentucky replace McConnell if he retires or passes away before 2027?

According to multiple reports, the Kentucky Legislature ensured a departing senator would be replaced by a member of the same party.

Thus, McConnell would be replaced by a Republican.

Newsweek reports:

In 2021, the Republican-run Kentucky legislature voted to introduce a law that changes how the state would fill a vacant Senate seat in the case of death, illness, or any other reason for early departure. Previously, Kentucky's governor was able to choose who would fill the position from any political party. In this case, the decision would have been made by Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear.

However, following the passing of Senate Bill 228, the Kentucky governor would now have to pick a successor from the same party as the departed senator. This would be from a list of three names provided by the executive committee of the departing senator's state party.

A special election would then be held to determine who takes over the seat on a permanent basis, unless the vacancy occurs within three months of an already scheduled election.

McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984, was one of those who supported the passing of the bill. The push from the senator prompted speculation that the then-79-year-old was considering leaving office early and would ensure that his successor was also a Republican—a claim that he dismissed at the time.

Business Insider added:

In 2021, Beshear attempted to veto a bill that would have restricted his power to replace a US senator with someone of his choosing if the senator were to resign or die before their term was up, the Louisville Courier Journal reported at the time.

But the state's Republican-run legislature overrode Beshear's veto — with McConnell strongly backing the effort, according to the Courier Journal.

Under the approved Senate Bill 228, the governor of Kentucky would now be forced to choose someone of the same political party as the senator who left their job when temporarily filling a vacant seat.