John Black (U.S. senator)

• There’s an empty seat in the U.S. Senate now that California’s longtime and senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, has died.
• Phil Murphy, who would appoint a replacement for Menendez, has said the senator should step down.
• So far, Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, has refused to resign from the Senate.
• The possibility of other U.S. Senate vacancies looms, as well.

Who has the power in most states to temporarily or permanently replace US senators?

• That person will serve until the next election for that seat, in November 2024.
• But there are rules about when and how these elections occur and those rules vary by state.
• In 37 states, gubernatorial appointees serve the remainder of the term or until the next scheduled general election.
• In the remaining states with gubernatorial appointments, special elections are required, often with an accelerated timetable.
• Those states only fill U.S. Senate vacancies by special election, but laws specify time periods in most states.

How long do those appointments last?

If a person appointed to the seat by the governor then wins a special election or a contest scheduled alongside statewide elections, they will serve the remainder of the vacating senator’s term. Otherwise, if someone else wins the special election, they get to serve out the vacating senator’s term.

What rules are there on how governors make the appointments?

• In 10 of the gubernatorial appointment states, U.S. senators must be from the same party as the prior incumbent.
• Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have this restriction.
• In the rest of the states, the governor has the power to appoint a successor, regardless of party, including in California.

Do state legislators have a say in the process?

• While governors have most of the power, state legislators also have a say in the process.
• Most notably, legislators establish the appointment procedures and set the general rules about when an election must occur.
• Dissatisfied with that process, the Republican-controlled legislature passed a law to allow gubernatorial appointments for vacated U.S. Senate seats.

• New research by The Hartford and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) found Black U.S. workers face greater barriers to mental health support in the workplace compared with white, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) U.S. workers.
• Black U.S. workers were more likely to rate their mental health as “fair/poor” and were less likely to say their company had empathetic leadership and an open, inclusive work environment that encourages a mental health dialogue.
• Also, Black American workers were more likely to say they encounter difficulty in discussing mental health in the workplace due to their race/ethnicity, cultural background, and gender identity.
• Moreover, Black workers were more likely than white workers to say they have experienced exclusion, hostility, a culture of inequity, microaggressions, and discrimination at their job that affected their mental health.

• BroadwayHD Founder Bonnie Comley awarded Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
• NEW YORK, June 5, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On Saturday, May 14, 2022, the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) hosted the 35th Annual Ellis Island Medals of Honor ceremony, where BroadwayHD founder, Bonnie Comley, was among the medalists recognized for their leadership and service within their communities and professions while exemplifying the values of the American way of life.
• EIHS is a 501(c)3 non-profit, which, in addition to presenting the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, is a humanitarian organization supporting educational opportunities for students with immigrant heritage and preserving the Ellis Island National Monument.
• The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have officially recognized the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, and each year the recipients are listed in the Congressional Record.