Succession
Despite Byrd's periods of ill health, his succession was not immediately clear. Initially, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant announced that there would be no special election to fill the Senate vacancy until 2012. However, after an opinion by West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw that a special election could occur in 2010, the West Virginia Legislature passed a law allowing for an August 2010 special primary election and a November 2, 2010 special general election to fill Byrd's remaining term. In the interim, Governor Joe Manchin appointed former aide and fellow Democrat Carte Goodwin to Byrd's seat. Manchin was elected to the seat on Nov 2, 2010.
Read more about this topic: Robert Byrd
Famous quotes containing the word succession:
“A mother’s life, you see, is one long succession of dramas, now soft and tender, now terrible. Not an hour but has its joys and fears.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces—in nature, in society, in man himself.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“Life is measured by the rapidity of change, the succession of influences that modify the being.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)