For days, news in Kentucky has been dominated by reports that the Republican-dominated state legislature is poised to change the means for filling a vacancy in the U.S. Senate.

This has led fueled speculation from the State Capitol in Frankfort to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., about the person who badly wants this legislation enacted and whom it most affects: Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican leader and handily re-elected last fall to a 7th term.

If enacted, the proposed legislation will remove Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s power to appoint whomever he chooses to a vacant Senate seat.

Instead, he and future governors would be required to choose the new lawmaker from a list of three from the executive committee of the party of the outgoing senator.