As California’s governor, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said he would appoint a Democrat to fill a U.S. Senate seat should there be a vacancy.
Read more Missouri election chief faces whistleblower lawsuit from fired election integrity director
That’s what Hilton told podcast host Jon Lovett during a recent appearance on “Pod Save America” when asked about the hypothetical situation.
Hilton pledged to nominate a Democrat to serve out the terms of U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla or Adam Schiff, both Democrats, should either of their seats become vacant.
“I just think you’ve got to honor the vote that people took,” Hilton said, referencing the fact that both Padilla and Schiff were elected into office.
Hilton, who is running against former U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The situation he discussed on the podcast is hypothetical. But if it were to play out, Hilton wouldn’t be the first Republican governor to appoint a member of the opposing party to the U.S. Senate.
According to California State Library communications manager Alex Vassar, Republican governors from the state have twice appointed Democrats to fill U.S. Senate vacancies.
Read more Protect College Sports Act gets renewed push and fresh opposition as college football returns
The first was in 1859 when then-Gov. John Weller tapped Henry Haun, a former county judge, to serve out Sen. David Broderick’s term after Broderick died in a duel.
Then in 1971, Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed Rep. John Tunney to the seat held by then-Sen. George Murphy.
Murphy had lost his bid for reelection to Tunney and resigned just before the end of his term. Although there was only one day left in Murphy’s term, Reagan appointed Tunney to serve out the remainder of that term in order to give Tunney a seniority advantage in his freshman class of senators, according to Vassar.
Hilton and Becerra are both seeking to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
A Republican in a deep-blue state, Hilton is widely considered an underdog in this matchup. The last time voters elected a Republican as California governor was in 2006, when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won reelection.
Hilton, a former Fox News host, has been campaigning on the message that voters don’t need to be a Republican or support Trump to vote for him if they want to see change in California.
Read more Officials say 4 people were hospitalized after a crane collapsed at a Miami construction site