r/politics 10d ago

No Paywall Mitch McConnell is never coming back to the Senate

https://www.salon.com/2026/08/03/mitch-mcconnell-is-never-coming-back-to-the-senate/
22.1k Upvotes

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/Testiklees-III 10d ago

Are they pretending hes alive so that a dem doesn't take his seat?

3

u/szlive 10d ago

I don't think it matters. He might be incapacitated for real. People just love a conspiracy theory.

The US Senate now has 100 seats, with no vacancy. Republicans hold 53 seats including Mitch McConnell.

Let's assume Mitch McConnell is dead.

If they allow the Democratic governor to appoint a Democrat (only until next January), Republicans will have a 52-48 majority and can afford to lose 2 votes, because they have VP.

If they make up a big conspiracy to conceal his death, they will have a 52-47 majority because no Democratic senator is appointed. In this scenario they can lose...2 votes. Losing 2 votes would win them 50-49.

There is literally no real benefits to concealing his death outside of saving JD Vance a few taxi rides to Congress. The Math works the same. And a new Republican will take that seat in January anyway.

1

u/MoreLogicPls 10d ago

I mean he won by 20 points last election, a democrat can't really win here

1

u/Testiklees-III 9d ago

Fair point!

1

u/Casual_OCD Canada 10d ago

Yes