Gov. Patrick Supports Interim Appointment to Replace Kennedy
Some candidates have already expressed interest in running in the special election
It's been a quarter-century since Massachusetts last saw an open-seat race for the U.S. Senate, so speculation over who will vie to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy was raging even before his death. The question of whether the state legislature will comply with Kennedy's dying wish to allow the governor to appoint a replacement until a special election only adds to the drama.
This week, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick set the special election to replace Kennedy for January 19, complying with a state law that requires such elections within roughly six months to fill Senate vacancies. But in a letter to Bay State lawmakers this summer, Kennedy requested that the Democratic-controlled legislature pass a law permitting Patrick to appoint a replacement in the interim.
Patrick, a Democrat, supports the move and is holding a public hearing on the matter on September 9. "The Democrats need every vote they can get in the Senate to pass healthcare, which was Kennedy's signature issue," says Fred Bayles, director of Boston University's Statehouse Program. "So I think they'll pass this."
Either way, the special election for Kennedy's Senate heir is expected to be competitive. (Should Patrick appoint a short-term replacement, the person is expected to forgo a re-election bid, as Kennedy requested.)
Another Kennedy could compete for the seat. Ted Kennedy's widow, Victoria, has told friends she isn't interested, but speculation continues. Former Massachusetts Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, Ted's nephew, could run, though he's been quiet on the matter.
More than a half-dozen other Bay State Democrats, from current U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch, Edward Markey, and Michael Capuano to former Rep. Martin Meehan, may also compete. Some of them are waiting to see if a Kennedy runs before they decide, while Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley threw her hat in the ring this morning by picking up the nomination papers for a run. The pool of potential Republicans appears to be smaller, but that doesn't mean the seat will remain in Democratic hands. Before Patrick was elected in 2006, Massachusetts had four consecutive Republican governors.
- See photos of Ted Kennedy throughout his life.
- See a gallery of political cartoons.
Reader Comments
teresa e compton-phlpa
sen ted kenneedy will be dearly missed-as his ww11 pt boater brother-john-who served as my father-a ww11 pt boater-they made us very proud-God Bless.
teresa e compton-phlpa
sen ted kenneedy will be dearly missed-as his ww11 pt boater brother-john-who served as my father-a ww11 pt boater-they made us very proud-God Bless.
What is wrong with Massachusetts?
In 1830, SC Attorney General James L. Petigru was one of the leading advocates of the so-called “unionist” position in the State, arguing the federal Union must remain intact. On the other hand, nullifiers and, later, secessionists argued that the union could not be preserved if states rights were trampled upon. Petigru was a minority of one as the War Between the States drew near, making the famous comment that “South Carolina is too small to be a nation and too large to be an insane asylum". (The scurrilous Keith Olbermann on MSNBC recently plagiarized that quote in one of his lengthy, tawdry diatribes.) I think the honor of a place being too small to be a state and too large to be an insane asylum now must go to Massachusetts. I know that the people in Mass think they are the think tank for social justice (88% white and 7% African-American last count), but now that they have done insider trading on how to position a replacement for the venerable last Kennedy has exposed the aces up their sleeves. Republican Governor (Mitt Romney) - we must elect - oops - now we have a Democratic Governor - so we have to change the law and appoint. Too many Irish and too much whiskey.
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