Russ Feingold wants to abolish the practice of governors appointing legislators to Congress and instead have elections to fill vacancies. The move would require a constitutional amendment at the federal level, and could potentially ward off problems like we saw with Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who tried to sell off Barack Obama's vacant senate seat late last year.
It's a move that would make a lot more sense -- often, though elected by the same constituents, a governor doesn't necessarily have the interests of the people in mind when making such a selection. It may even prevent a person from taking on an executive role: a senator may not want to become a cabinet member, for example, if their home state's governor is of the opposing party.
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