On October 13, a subcommittee of the West Virginia legislature heard expert testimony on whether the State Constitution requires that the state hold a special gubernatorial election, if Governor Joe Manchin is elected to the U.S. Senate on November 2.  He was elected to a four-year term in November 2008, so if he wins for U.S. Senate, he would be resigning as Governor in the middle of his term.  See this story.  The Constitution says there should be an election if the Governor leaves while he still has at least one year left to serve, but it doesn’t say when that election should be held.