The Eye

Combing through some information provided by the always-helpful Senate Historical Office, I think that this scenario last occurred in Arkansas in 1977, following the death of veteran Democratic Sen. John McClellan that November.

Democratic Gov. David Pryor by then was interested in running to succeed McClellan, who had announced a week before his death that he would retire when his term expired at the end of 1978. (Pryor had challenged McClellan in a 1972 Senate primary).

"Pryor's choice will be influenced by his own interest in running for the Senate seat. ... It is considered unlikely he will choose anyone who would alienate any particular faction of the party," the CQ Weekly magazine wrote on Dec. 3, 1977.

Pryor's choice to fill the remaining 13 months of McClellan's term was generally praised: Democrat Kaneaster Hodges Jr., a little-known lawyer and minister.

"Hodges' background suggests that he was a near-perfect choice, because he has been associated with both the conservative McClellan forces and also with the more liberal element of the party represented by Pryor and Sen. Dale Bumpers," the CQ Weekly wrote on Dec. 17, 1977.

Pryor needed a runoff election to win the 1978 Democratic Senate primary, but he went on to serve 18 years as senator.

Use the comments section to apprise Eye on 2010 of any other cases in which a governor made an interim appointment to a Senate seat that the governor was planning to seek.