S.D. recalls last empty Senate seat

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - As Washington is riveted by the potential political fallout from Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record)'s brain surgery, some people in South Dakota remember when one of its Senate seats sat empty for three years.

On Nov. 23, 1969, GOP Sen. Karl Mundt of South Dakota had a debilitating stroke. He later endured months of speech and physical therapy at his Washington home.

Mundt's wife, Mary, refused to vacate the seat despite pressure from the state's Republicans. The move would have left Gov. Frank Farrar, a fellow Republican, to appoint someone to complete Mundt's term.

"He served out the remainder of his term with his staff basically serving as the senator," said Bob Burns, political science head at South Dakota State University.

Republicans, then numbering 45 in the 100-member Senate, waited for two years before stripping Mundt of his seniority and committee assignments.

Unable to campaign for a fifth Senate term, Mundt did not run for re-election in 1972 and relinquished the seat on Jan. 3, 1973, when the 93rd Congress took over. He died on Aug. 16, 1974 of a heart ailment.

Mundt, a staunch anti-communist, rose to national prominence for his roles in the Alger Hiss case and the dispute between Sen. Joe McCarthy and the Army.

While in the U.S. House, Mundt introduced the Voice of America bill to help the United States counter Soviet propaganda by broadcasting U.S. aims to radio listeners abroad. The Smith-Mundt act, as it was also known, became law in 1948.

Mundt was known as a conservationist who pressured the Interior Department for better protection of endangered species.