Who should the Virginia Gov appoint to be interim senator?

[Panhandle Progressive]

abc

[JMT]

I think Herring would be a good choice. Although he may not be appointed, Dems in VA may want him to stay on as Attorney General and run for reelection so they can hold that seat. But I wouldn't be surprised if Herring was the interim senator and / or decided to run in the special election

[Kingpoleon]

Chap Petersen, Tom Perriello, Brian Moran, or John W. Marshall.

[Heisenberg]

Word is that the appointment will be Bobby Scott. As a Republican, I like that. He is a weak candidate as he has never faced a competitive race in his heavily Democratic district, and is very up in age, which could hinder his campaigning skills. If I were McAuliffe, I'd appoint Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08). He may only be a freshman Congressman, but he is a former Lieutenant Governor who won statewide even in 1993, a bad year for Virginia Democrats. He is also a former ambassador and is pretty wealthy, and while I dislike his politics, he seems like a decent person. He is also a good campaigner and fundraiser. So Beyer is the guy who's always scared me the most.

[syntaxerror]

Bobby Scott would be a weak appointment, but it leads me to think that McAuliffe is doing so in order to keep the special election open for Herring.

Herring would be the strongest candidate, imho. Has experience in statewide elections and young enough to serve several terms.

[Antonio the Sixth]

How does replacing Senate vacancies work in VA? Will the appointed Senator serve until 2018, or will there have to be a special election before then?

[syntaxerror]

How does replacing Senate vacancies work in VA? Will the appointed Senator serve until 2018, or will there have to be a special election before then?

Special Election in Nov 2017 alongside Gubernatorial election. Then election for same seat in 2018.

[Antonio the Sixth]

How does replacing Senate vacancies work in VA? Will the appointed Senator serve until 2018, or will there have to be a special election before then?

Special Election in Nov 2017 alongside Gubernatorial election. Then election for same seat in 2018.

Ugh, what a ridiculous system.

[Vosem]

As a Republican, I suppose I have to stick my neck out for Barbara Comstock or Ken Cuccinelli

I guess it's all the same to me which of these Democrats gets appointed, but I suppose Bobby Scott would probably be preferable, both since he comes from a demographic that's underrepresented in the Senate and since he hasn't faced a competitive election against a Republican since the 1980s, so presumably he's a tad rusty on that point.

[Green Line]

Bobbi Scott plz.  we need a black senator.

[Heisenberg]

Bobbi Scott plz.  we need a black senator.

There's already an African American Senator Scott.

[Mr. Smith]

Creigh Deeds would be pretty cool.

[Frodo]

Tom Perriello would be an excellent choice.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Third for Periello, if he's interested.

[Miles]

McAauliffe should be like Joe Manchin with Carte Goodwin - a younger place holder to give them visibility for something else down the line, like Tom Perriello or Aneesh Chopra. I would then like to see Herring run for the seat and win it in his own right.

[Fitzgerald]

McAauliffe should be like Joe Manchin with Carte Goodwin - a younger place holder to give them visibility for something else down the line, like Tom Perriello or Aneesh Chopra. I would then like to see Herring run for the seat and win it in his own right.

Seconded. We need to get the most out of this seat that we can.

[Blackacre]

McAauliffe should be like Joe Manchin with Carte Goodwin - a younger place holder to give them visibility for something else down the line, like Tom Perriello or Aneesh Chopra. I would then like to see Herring run for the seat and win it in his own right.

Herring should indicate that he's going to run and then not. So his candidacy would be a red Herring.

[Figueira]

Very weird choice, but what about Anne Holton?

[Heisenberg]

Very weird choice, but what about Anne Holton?

They stopped appointing the ex-Senators' spouses to the seat because it was viewed as doing the family a favor, I believe. I'm pretty sure there's a reason that old tradition is pretty much dead.

[Panhandle Progressive]

How does replacing Senate vacancies work in VA? Will the appointed Senator serve until 2018, or will there have to be a special election before then?

Special Election in Nov 2017 alongside Gubernatorial election. Then election for same seat in 2018.

Ugh, what a ridiculous system.

I'm not sure what makes you believe this. It makes sense if you think about it. We already have an election scheduled for Gov in Nov. 2017 anyway so we just need to add a few names to the ballot to determine who we choose to represent our state until the end of Tim Kaine's term, then the following Nov. we get to decide who will represent us for the next six years. Nothing ridiculous about it.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

Tom Periello

[Antonio the Sixth]

How does replacing Senate vacancies work in VA? Will the appointed Senator serve until 2018, or will there have to be a special election before then?

Special Election in Nov 2017 alongside Gubernatorial election. Then election for same seat in 2018.

Ugh, what a ridiculous system.

I'm not sure what makes you believe this. It makes sense if you think about it. We already have an election scheduled for Gov in Nov. 2017 anyway so we just need to add a few names to the ballot to determine who we choose to represent our state until the end of Tim Kaine's term, then the following Nov. we get to decide who will represent us for the next six years. Nothing ridiculous about it.

It just seems weird to have two elections for the same seat within a year's distance. I'd say an election only makes sense if you have at least 2 years to go.

[Figueira]

How does replacing Senate vacancies work in VA? Will the appointed Senator serve until 2018, or will there have to be a special election before then?

Special Election in Nov 2017 alongside Gubernatorial election. Then election for same seat in 2018.

Ugh, what a ridiculous system.

I'm not sure what makes you believe this. It makes sense if you think about it. We already have an election scheduled for Gov in Nov. 2017 anyway so we just need to add a few names to the ballot to determine who we choose to represent our state until the end of Tim Kaine's term, then the following Nov. we get to decide who will represent us for the next six years. Nothing ridiculous about it.

It just seems weird to have two elections for the same seat within a year's distance. I'd say an election only makes sense if you have at least 2 years to go.

I think it makes sense to get a Senator who the people of Virginia want as soon as possible.

And the time between Tim Kaine resigning and the post-2016 Senate taking over is close to two years.

[Maxwell]

Perriello is my first choice - barring that, I'm fine with Mark Herring or even Bobby Scott, who is a solid congressman.

[Virginiá]

If this replacement is meant to also be the person to run in 2018, they better be a star fundraiser, because it's going to be very expensive in 2017 and possibly also 2018, depending on how well his/ or her support is going into that race. If we get a 50-50 split somehow, or maybe even 51-49 still, the Republican Party is going to descend on that 2017 race with the fury of a thousand suns.

Really, this is a big reason Kaine was a bad choice. It's unnecessary risk and now Democrats have to pour tens of millions into Virginia just a year later, and possibly again a year later.

The only plus is that with all that money going into GOTV/ads in 2017, it could boost other Democrats in their statewide races.