NY Times Clipping from 2000
It’s hard to believe but, yes, it is possible to be elected to national office if you’re dead. In fact, five people have been elected to Congress postmortem!
Alaska Democratic Sen. Mark Begich would very much like to win his first bid for reelection to his seat in 34 days time. Interestingly, his father Nick Begich was also serving in his first term representing Alaska in the House when he narrowly won reelection in 1972. There is one catch: Nick Begich had been missing for weeks after a plane crash, and was reelected despite being presumed dead.
Nick Begich is one of only five people to win election to the House or Senate posthumously. Three others died before Election Day, but were replaced on the ballot.
Read the full story: Five people have won election to Congress, despite being dead
Fortunately, this has never been the case in a Presidential election. While it was not a factor since his party didn’t win, a vice-presidential candidate has died before the election and remained on the ballot.
In 1912, James Sherman, the Republican candidate for Vice-President (and the incumbent Vice-President under William Howard Taft) died on October 30 of kidney disease, a few days before the general election on November 5. The Republican National Committee scheduled a meeting to be held after the general election, on November 12, to select a successor, and Sherman’s name remained on the ticket for the general election.
Read the full story: Presidential death during the election process
