West Virginia Special Election Could be This Year

Throwing a change-up into the fall elections, the West Virginia attorney general has ruled that a special election to fill the seat of the late Robert Byrd could be called by the governor this year.

Governor Joe Manchin (pictured), a Democrat, had asked for the ruling before moving forward on appointing a replacement for late Sen. Robert Byrd. Last week, the secretary of state ruled that the special election would be held November 2012, not this year. The attorney general's decision trumps that ruling.

"The Legislature authorized the Governor to proclaim an election to fill the vacancy where, as here, the vacancy exceeds two years and six months in duration," wrote Attorney General Darrell McGraw.

Manchin has said that would not appoint himself to the seat, but has said he is very interested in running in the special election. It is almost certain that Manchin will appoint a Democrat to fill Byrd's seat until the expected election this November, which will fill the seat for rest of Byrd's term, which ends in 2013.

"In light of this opinion, I plan to speak with the state's legislative leadership immediately to determine how we will further proceed in order to reach a conclusion to this matter," said Manchin in a statement.

Now that it appears that the election will be held this November, there is another Democrat Senate seat at play. Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito had expressed interest in running, but it's not clear if she would run this November or wait for 2012, when the entire 6-year Senate term would be available. Byrd, a Democrat, was the longest serving senator in history.

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Robert Hendin is a CBS News White House producer. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here.