U.S. District Court Will Decide Whether a Governor Can Call a Special U.S. Senate Election Before the Seat is Vacant

Posted on by April 4, 2022

U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe was re-elected to the U.S. Senate from Oklahoma in November 2020. Normally his term would last until January 2027. But on February 28, 2022, he wrote a letter and said he will irrevocably retire from the Senate effective January 2023.

The Governor of Oklahoma then called a special election for his seat, to be held in November 2022. On April 1, an Oklahoma Republican, Stephen Jones, filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that the Seventeenth Amendment does not permit any Governor to call a special election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate until the vacancy exists. The Seventeenth Amendment says, “When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.” The lawsuit argues that nothing prevents Senator Inhofe from revoking his letter of resignation, so the special election might be a meaningless exercise.

Here is the brief in Jones v Stitt, w.d., 5:22cv-278. Jones argues he has standing as a voter, and he also has standing because he has asked the Governor to appoint him to the vacancy if and when it occurs.

Jones already asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to stop the special election, but that court refused to hear his case. Inhofe’s future actions must have been anticipated by the Oklahoma legislature, because in 2021 it passed an election law bill specifically authorizing special elections in case of either vacancy or irrevocable resignation. Jones argues that the very language of that new law shows he is correct, because it demonstrates that a vacancy and an irrevocable resignation are different things. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news about the lawsuit.

Comments

U.S. District Court Will Decide Whether a Governor Can Call a Special U.S. Senate Election Before the Seat is Vacant — 48 Comments

  2. Working the night desk at Motel 6 in El Reno, OK does not make you an expert. Get over yourself, stock character.

  5. I disagree with the Plaintiff. Senator Inhofe should be taken at his word that he will not change his mind.

    Senator Inhofe is trying to help his Chief of Staff get the job instead of whomever Governor Kevin Stitt would appoint as Senator. The Republican Senator does not trust the Republican Governor.

    I agree with Senator Inhofe and the Oklahoma Supreme Court there should be an election, not an appointment.

  7. “Reality” The comment is from me and no one else. It is not garbage. The only garbage is your God Damned lie that I comment under false names.

  11. “the facts” The comment is my own and no one else. I am not SocraticGadfly. The only garbage is your God Damned lie that I comment under false names.

  14. The triggered garbage comment on April 4 at 3:11 pm is from sarcastic fruitfly.

  16. The triggered garbage comment on April 4 at 3:53 pm is from sarcastic fruitfly.

  21. “The facts” has convinced me that Stock and SocraticGadfly are the same person.

  23. Olumide Oyedeji: I use disgusting foul language because I am a vulgar person. So what, you Cock Sucking Shit Eating Mother Fucker?

    Andy: He/she/it called me Socrates because he/she/it mistakenly believes that I comment under the name SocraticGadfly. This is not true. I have NEVER commented under a pseudonym. But no amount of truth matters to these yahoos.

  24. Gary: What are the “facts” that you say convince you?

    I disagree with SocraticGadfly on this post. He/she/it agrees with the lawsuit from Stephen Jones and I disagree.

    The next Senator from Oklahoma should be elected by the people, not appointed by the Governor.

  25. If stock character was not the sarcastic fruitfly he would not get so triggered by the facts, so they must be the truth. That’s just reality. He can’t handle the truth so he has veins busting, smoke coming out his ears, and blood from all his orifices like he got Ebola because the truth, the facts and reality make him so mad. He is acting like a guilty guy so I bet he is.

    The lengths this stock fruitfly goes to are funny, even disagreeing with his own alt just to prove it’s not him. How pathetic. He is a beta cuck loser among beta cuck losers. Weak, flaccid and limp. And completely unable to handle true facts.

  26. The garbage comments on April 4 at 11:03 and 11:05 pm were posted by the pathetic Fruitfly.

  27. Logan and Reality: I have NEVER used a pseudonym. I only comment under my own name. The only garbage is your God Damned lie that I comment under false names.

  28. Wow. Can we have a little decorum here? Women and children might be reading this page.

  29. Olumide Oyedeji: Fuck decorum. Women and children use these words every day. Now go fuck your father up his ass.

  30. The garbage comments on April 5 at 12:25 and 1:55 am are obviously from the triggered satanic fruitfly stock character who can’t handle the truth, the facts or reality. But however triggered the satanic fruitfly stock character gets, facts are still facts, the truth is still the truth, and reality remains reality no matter how much he tries to stand it on its head to serve Satan. To hell with the devil and to hell with the pathetic fruitfly stock character!

  31. Both current Oklahoma Senators, Inhofe and Lankford, were elected in special elections to replace Senators(Boren and Coburn) who had submitted resignations with a future date.

  32. CP —

    Evidently it also needs to be repeated that the overriding responsibility of this Court is to the Constitution of the United States, no matter how late it may be that a violation of the Constitution is found to exist.
    Chessman v. Teets, 354 U.S. 156, 165 (1957).
    —-
    What cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly. Cummings v. Missouri, 71 U.S. 277, 325 (1867); U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 778, 829 (1995).

    A law must be tested by its operation and effect. Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697, 708-709 (1931); U.S. Term Limits, Inc., supra, 514 U.S., at 831.
    —–

    Copy and paste on wall next to internet access items.

  33. Bingo: So what if I’m triggered? There is nothing wrong with being triggered. It is a normal and reasonable response to being lied about.

    Truth is truth and facts are facts. It is true and a fact that I have NEVER used a pseudonym. I only comment under my own name.

  34. Truth is truth and facts are facts. It is true and a fact that Robert K Stock and sarcastic fruitfly are one in the same and that he gets triggered whenever this reality gets pointed out.

  35. Yep: You are God Damned right I get triggered when you lie about me. So what?

    I am not SocraticGadfly. I have NEVER commented under a pseudonym. I only comment under my own name.

  36. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this before. I do have the power to rid myself of the trolls targeting me. It’s time to exercise that power.

    In the 11 years that I have been a Satanist I have only performed a Destruction Ritual once. That is because if a Satanist formally curses someone, then the Satanist must truly not care if the recipient lives or dies. A curse is never thrown lightly.

    Soon I will enter my Ritual Chamber and I will call upon Satan, my friend and brother, to open the Gates of Hell unleashing unholy torment upon the trolls on this site who wish me harm. Their suffering will be an exquisite delight. Hail Satan! Shemhamforash! So it will be done!

  38. And here I thought sporadic stockfly doesn’t believe Satan really exists. Yet his supposedly imaginary “friend and brother” is going to open the gates of a supposedly imaginary hell and unleash real torment on real people? Obviously stock is a liar judging by his own words. He lies so much he probably doesn’t even know truth from lies at all anymore.

  39. I agree with the plaintiff. I also contend that Oklahoma election law is prior censorship of candidate names permitted on the ballot makes voter choice abridged so severely that any election held is unconstitutional. I have yet to find representation to bring my own suit to court in Oklahoma. I close with quote from the Plaintiff’s brief: It is anticipated that Defendants will point out that the State of Oklahoma has apparently previously violated the Seventeenth Amendment by holding premature elections to fill Senator Tom Coburn’s and Senator David Boren’s U.S. Senate offices.
    Nevertheless, the fact “[t]hat an unconstitutional action has been taken before surely does not render that same action any less unconstitutional at a later date.” Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969). As a result, the State’s prior unchallenged violations of the Seventeenth Amendment do not make the Defendants’ current actions constitutional. Therefore, the State’s prior violations of the Seventeenth Amendment are not relevant to this matter

  40. Meanwhile back at the ranch, azhole brings more unintelligible acronyms and Putin obsession.

  41. Stock’s true colors just came out. As suspected, he is a devil worshipper. This proves that despite what they claim, Satanists really do believe in and worship Satan. Sad and pathetic.

  42. Sad and pathetic is right. And projecting. He thinks “trolls” here “wish him harm”? Why? He’s the only one here who is wishing harm on people. I haven’t seen anyone wish him harm. It seems that he’s the troll who wishes people harm, people who are just trying to show him love by saving his soul, and to save the souls of others by exposing his satanic lies.

  46. Psalm 23:4

    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

    To me, this says that there is nothing to fear from Satan for all who are saved in Christ.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.