According to this story, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin has no plans to call an early special session of the legislature to consider gubernatorial succession.  West Virginia elects its governors during presidential election years.  Governor Manchin will be resigning as Governor very soon, to take his seat in the U.S. Senate.  Democratic Party legislators and the Governor seem to feel that the Senate President, Ray Tomblin, will automatically become Governor and will hold office until November 2012.

Not everyone agrees with that.  The West Virginia Constitution says when a governor leaves office with more than a year remaining in the term, an election will be called to fill the vacancy.  The problem is that the Constitution doesn’t say when that special election should be.

Ray Tomblin has been a Democratic legislator in West Virginia continuously since 1974.  He is in the middle of his 4-year State Senate term.  The article seems to suggest that he plans to become Governor and also remain a State Senator, although this is not explicit.