University of Kentucky law professor on what happens if Beshear is selected for VP

During cable network interviews Monday, Governor Andy Beshear said he’d consider an offer to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. Josh Douglas is a law professor at the University of Kentucky whose classes study voting rights and election law. He said Beshear won’t have to step down as governor if he’s part of the Democratic ticket for president.

“Kentucky is not one of the states that says that if the governor leaves the state, then the lieutenant governor takes over during that time, temporarily. There are other states, like North Carolina, where if the governor is physically absent from the state, the next person in line is temporarily in charge.”

Douglas described what will happen if Beshear is on a winning Democratic presidential ticket.

“Jacqueline Coleman would then become the governor and would serve out the term until the next election in 2027.”

Douglas said Lieutenant Governor Coleman’s selection for her lieutenant governor would not be subject to approval by the Kentucky General Assembly. Weeks before President Biden announced he wouldn’t seek a second term, Beshear accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual dinner, which is this Saturday.

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