The local press here in the Empire State is reporting that Republicans are pushing to remove Governor David Paterson’s power to appoint a new senator for Hillary Clinton’s seat and force a special election for the position. Such a move would be perfectly legal under the U.S. Constitution but it will face some stiff opposition.

Republicans in New York’s Legislature are pushing for a special election to fill the expected vacancy in the U.S. Senate instead of allowing Democratic Gov. David Paterson to make a unilateral appointment through a secretive process.

The efforts, however, are by traditionally powerless minority conferences of the Assembly and Senate and face a near impossible timetable to even get the bills to floor debates before Paterson chooses Hillary Rodham Clinton’s successor from a field of Democrats including Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, a Schenectady Republican, noted specifically that Kennedy, the perceived front-runner, has no record in elected office and her positions on public policy are largely unknown.

“We need an election, not a coronation, to ensure our next U.S. senator reflects the will of the people,” Tedisco said.

I wouldn’t expect the Democrats, who hold the majority in both houses of the state legislature, to be amenable to the idea, and Democratic majority leader Malcolm Smith didn’t disappoint us.

“Sen. Smith has total confidence in the governor making the decision on the U.S. Senate seat which serves the needs of all New Yorkers,” said Smith spokesman Austin Shafran. “Any legislation that seeks to diminish the governor’s authority is unnecessary and unwarranted.”

Tedisco brings up an interesting fact for our consideration. The appointment system is in place for emergency situations and ideally would only occasionally result in a temporarily appointed official. But New York has been reeling under a series of scandals, combined with Clinton exiting for greener pastures and our election laws have created a “perfect storm” of vacancies where appointments are more plentiful than elections. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is still being considered for the Senate seat and if he is chosen we will have a Governor, a Comptroller, an A.G. and a Senator who were not elected, along with a Lt. Governor’s office which by law will remain empty until 2010. In fact, under that scenario, the only elected statewide official in New York will be Chuck Schumer for the next two years.

Tedisco and the minority Republicans have raised an interesting issue. All of this is happening properly under existing law, but it’s doubtful that the authors of these laws ever anticipated having this many people in the state’s highest positions of power at one time without ever facing the choice of the voters to place them there. Perhaps it is time to take a fresh look at the process, evaluate the costs of special elections and put the selection power back more firmly in the hands of the voters. With the Democrats holding all the cards, though, I find it unlikely that we’ll see it any time soon.