Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick set a special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat at the same time he announced support for an effort to change state election laws:
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced Monday that the special election to fill the Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat will be held in January, but said he wants to make an interim appointment before then.
Patrick set the general election for Jan. 19. A source close to the proceeding said the primary will be held Dec. 8.
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Patrick said he will also push to change state law so that he can name an interim senator in the run-up to the election. Lawmakers have scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 9 on the proposed change, requested by Kennedy before his death last week.
In the meantime, hearings to change state law to allow Patrick to appoint an interim Senator before a Special Election will begin next week:
A state legislative committee will hold a hearing next week on a bill to allow Governor Deval Patrick to appoint a temporary replacement for Senator Edward M. Kennedy while a special election is held to fill his seat, a signal that Beacon Hill is moving to accommodate Kennedy’s request that Massachusetts maintain two voices in the Senate.
The House and Senate chairmen of the Joint Committee on Election Laws announced today they have moved the hearing date from early October to Sept. 9. The House and Senate, which are in summer recess, do not return in full formal session until next week. The bill could come to the floor of both the House and Senate within days after the hearing.
”One of the senator’s last public acts was a request that the Legislature explore ways to amend state law so the Commonwealth will not lose a voice in the United States Senate pending the filling of the seat with a special election,” said state Senator Thomas P. Kennedy, a Brockton Democrat, the Senate chairman of election laws committee. (He is not related to Edward Kennedy.)
Whether it’s by appointment or Special Election, though, everyone seems to be waiting to see what Joe Kennedy is going to do:
All eyes now are on Joseph P. Kennedy II, the former US representative, with family members and political allies expecting him to make a decision very shortly on whether to enter the Democratic primary.
No other Kennedy of his generation with the political stature to step into the role has signaled interest in it, according to Democratic insiders and people close to the family. And Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the senator’s widow, who many expected would be a likely candidate, so far has indicated she is not interested in succeeding her husband, those close to her have said.
“Joe Kennedy, as emotionally drained as he must be, cannot help but be moved by the outpouring of affection and respect that has come from people all over the country in the last several days,’’ said Dan Payne, a longtime Democratic media consultant. “I’m not saying he is going to run, but he wouldn’t be human and he wouldn’t be a Kennedy if he didn’t give serious thought to running for the so-called Kennedy seat.’’
Payne said Kennedy’s decision to run would have a huge impact.
“His candidacy in a special election would force all other candidates – real or imagined – to think twice about whether they want to take on a Kennedy so close to Senator Kennedy’s death,’’ he said.
Joe Kennedy’s decision is likely to determine the plans of the dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, US Representative Edward J. Markey, who is telling associates he is seriously considering running, and US Representative Michael Capuano, a Somerville Democrat who is also thinking of joining the primary race. Both are Kennedy loyalists and would not run against a member of the family, according to people familiar with their thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal political calculations.
Two other major Democratic figures considering entering the race – Attorney General Martha Coakley and US Representative Stephen F. Lynch, the South Boston Democrat – have told associates they plan to compete for the primary nomination no matter who enters.
And, of course, if Kennedy wants the seat it will be is. This is Massachusetts after all.
