If Warren is Clinton's VP, Harry Reid has a plan to replace her
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is studying up on Massachusetts law in light of the possibility that Sen. Elizabeth Warren is chosen as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's running mate, a source close to Reid confirmed to CBS News.
According to a story first reported by The Boston Globe, Reid has identified a path to ensure that if Warren leaves Congress for the White House, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker won't prevent Democrats from potentially regaining control of the Senate through the appointment of a temporary Republican replacement.
The source added that Reid, who endorsed Clinton in February, believes Warren would be a good choice to unify the party.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, Reid said that it's time for his colleague, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, to bring his campaign to an end. And after a prolonged and acrimonious primary fight, Warren, a folksy, anti-establishment progressive with populist appeal and a knack for attacking Donald Trump, can help rally Democrats around the ticket.
While Reid is high on Warren, he recently said he'd argue against picking a vice presidential candidate from a state with a Republican governor who could appoint a replacement. The 2016 map favors Democrats, who are only defending 10 Senate seats this cycle, compared to the 24 seats being defended by Republicans, but their path to taking back four or five seats is narrow.
If Warren were to vacate her seat, Massachusetts law says that a date of a special election "shall not be more than 160 nor less than 145 days after the date that a vacancy is created or a failure to choose occurs" -- but in the meantime, Baker has the authority to appoint a Republican successor.
However, Reid and his advisors have found an awkward work around: Warren can file an intent-to-resign letter 145 days prior to a January 20th inauguration date, which would block Baker from making an appointment as Warren would still be in office. However, in this scenario, if a Clinton-Warren ticket were to lose in November, Warren would have to rescind her resignation and run for what would then be an open seat.
Brian McNiff, a spokesman for Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin's office, confirmed to CBS News the legality of Reid's loophole.
Alternatively, and perhaps more realistically, Warren could also file for resignation on November 8th, the day after the election, in the case that Clinton wins, giving Baker the authority to appoint a temporary replacement who would serve between Clinton's inauguration and the date of the special election. This would potentially eliminate the possibility of a Democratic majority come January, while still giving Democrats the opportunity to quickly retake the seat.
Massachusetts Democrats have had some experience with maneuvering state laws in order to fill Senate vacancies to their benefit. In 2009, the Massachusetts state legislature changed the law to allow then-Gov. Deval Patrick to make a temporary appointment in the event of a vacancy. The change in the law was made at the request of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who was terminally ill at the time.
This ensured that Democrats would briefly retain their edge during the fight to pass the Affordable Care Act. But Republican Scott Brown went on to upset his Democratic opponent in the election following Kennedy's death -- a reminder to Reid and Warren that despite Massachusetts' Democratic leanings, special elections are unpredictable.