If Mitch McConnell steps down, Kentucky Republicans made sure years ago it won't be a Democrat who replaces him

• On Wednesday, McConnell froze at a press conference, raising questions about his ability to lead.
• But if he steps down, the Democratic governor in Kentucky will have to keep the Senate seat red.

Even if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell steps down, his Senate seat would remain in Republican hands even though the state's governor is a Democrat.

That's because GOP legislators in his home state of Kentucky — with his backing — made it impossible for anyone but a Republican to replace him, over the objections of Gov. Andy Beshear.

On Wednesday, McConnell froze and stopped talking mid-sentence during a press conference, raising questions about the 81-year-old senator's health.

Other senators pulled the silent McConnell aside as the press conference continued. An aide to McConnell later told Insider that McConnell stepped aside because he "felt lightheaded."

McConnell later returned, telling reporters he was "fine." But reports have emerged in the last day revealing that the Kentucky Republican has fallen numerous times in the last year, in addition to the concussion he suffered in March, which led to a weeks-long absence.

According to NBC, the most recent time he fell was earlier this month as he was disembarking from a plane.

—Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) July 26, 2023

In 2021, Beshear attempted to veto a bill that would have restricted his power to replace a US senator with someone of his choosing if the senator were to resign or die before their term was up, the Louisville Courier Journal reported at the time.

But the state's Republican-run legislature overrode Beshear's veto — with McConnell strongly backing the effort, according to the Courier Journal.

Under the approved Senate Bill 228, the governor of Kentucky would now be forced to choose someone of the same political party as the senator who left their job when temporarily filling a vacant seat.