A new poll finds that New Yorkers favor special elections to fill U.S. Senate seats that become vacant.

They may be costly, but it seems the best way to go—especially after this most recent muddle.

Here’s the Associated Press article:

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Most New Yorkers want special elections to fill future U.S. Senate vacancies rather than allowing the governor sole authority to name someone to the powerful position, according to a poll released Thursday.
The Siena College poll found 65 percent of voters want state law changed so voters would decide who gets the job. If the law is changed, it would prevent a repeat of the secretive and widely criticized process that led to Gov. David Paterson’s appointment of upstate congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Another 30 percent of the voters polled wanted the state law to remain unchanged.
A special election would allow voters to get to know the people seeking the office through a public campaign, instead of learning about them after the governor has already made a unilateral decision, said Siena spokesman Steven Greenberg.
“You would have a real campaign,” he said. “You would have a Democratic candidate, and you would have a Republican candidate.”
Paterson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.