Rauner’s making an argument now that Quinn should appoint one of Topinka’s deputies as temporary State Comptroller, and the Rauner would then re-appoint that person in January to serve until a special election can be held:
Wasn’t there some situation like that in Florida, where the outgoing lame duck RAT governor and incoming GOP Governor (Jeb Bush at the time) agreed on filling a vacant Supreme Court appointment during the month of December? Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Quince
That’s a good strategy for Rauner: seem eminently reasonable, and go to the media first. But he should follow up with a lawsuit claiming that Quinn can’t name someone to serve past January 12, and that he, not Quinn, is the governor entitled to name the replacement on January 12.
But I think that it would be even better strategy for Rauner to start talking about a fairly quick special election, with the filing deadline in March, the primaries in June, and the general in November. That way, no one can claim that he’s trying to keep Topinka’s deputy in there for years (and it would imply without having to say it that Quinn and the Democrats would try to name a partisan Democrat to serve for years).