Kentucky lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a bill stripping the state's Democratic governor of any role in picking someone to occupy a U.S. Senate seat if a vacancy occurred in the home state of 82-year-old Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The legislation calls for a special election to fill any Senate vacancy from the Bluegrass State. “So it would be a direct voice of the people determining how the vacancy is filled,” Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said while presenting the bill to his colleagues.