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Dems Question Date for Senate Election

By Associated Press

Voters will not decide for 12 months who will permanently fill Senator Trent Lott's seat, unless Democrats get their way. Dems Question Date for Senate Election

Published: Mon, November 26, 2007 - 6:52 pm Last Updated: Mon, November 26, 2007 - 6:54 pm

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - This much is simple: Republican Trent Lott
says he is resigning from the U.S. Senate seat with five years left
on his current six-year term.
But Mississippi law makes things complicated from there.
If a senator dies or resigns with more than one year left to
serve, the governor will appoint a temporary replacement and set a
special election. State election law provides two scenarios for the
timing of a special election:
- In a year that has a general state election or congressional
elections, such as 2008, the special election will be held on the
same date as the regular election.
- In a year without a general state election or congressional
elections, the special election will be held within 90 days of when
the Senate seat is declared vacant. The governor must declare a
vacancy within 10 days. That sets up a maximum 100-day timeline
from when a senator leaves or dies and when the election is held.
The election date is important as candidates scramble to line up
support and money for a race that could cost millions of dollars.
Lott says he intends to resign by the end of this year, though
he has not set a date.
Within hours of Lott's announcement, Governor Haley Barbour
issued a news release saying he will set the special election for
November 4, 2008 -- the same day as the regular federal election.
But the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, Wayne
Dowdy, says that if Lott resigns during 2007, Barbour needs to
uphold the law and set an election within 100 days.
Barbour spokesman Pete Smith said the governor's staff
researched election laws before Barbour issued the statement that
the election would be next November.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)