Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

BOSTON (AP) ― Beacon Hill lawmakers are talking about a possible compromise that would move a special election to fill Senate vacancy caused by the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy up to mid-December, WBZ political analyst Jon Keller has learned.

Under current law, a special election must be held no earlier than 145 days and no later than 160 days after the vacancy occurs. Under that law, the special election would be in mid- to late January.

Under the scenario being discussed, the party primaries would be held Nov. 3, which is also municipal Election Day in Boston and several other cities. Holding the primaries on that date would save those communities hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The final election would be held Dec. 15, before the Christmas and New Year's holidays, shaving about a month off the time the seat would be vacant.

The compromise would not change the law to allow Gov. Deval Patrick to appoint an interim successor until the special election.

Patrick said Wednesday he would support changing state law to allow him to appoint an interim successor, as urged by Sen. Kennedy himself in a letter written shortly before he died.
Unlike most states, a successor to a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts is chosen by special election, not appointed by the governor.

CHANGING THE LAW?

In a recent letter to lawmakers, Kennedy, who died Tuesday night, said the law should be changed to allow the governor to appoint someone to serve in the Senate during the course of the election -- provided that person pledge not to run for the seat.

In radio interviews Wednesday morning, Patrick called the idea "entirely reasonable" and told WBUR-FM that he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

"Massachusetts needs two voices" in the Senate, Patrick said.
Although Massachusetts is dominated by Democrats, a change in the law isn't a sure thing.

Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, both Democrats, issued statements of condolence early Wednesday, but neither has expressed support for giving the governor the power to name an interim successor. Republicans in both chambers, who hold about 10 percent of legislative seats in Massachusetts, oppose the idea.

BALANCE OF POWER

Without the change, Senate Democrats could potentially fall one vote short on any health care overhaul legislation, were such a bill brought up before the special election. Health care had been Kennedy's core issue for decades.

Democrats hold a potentially filibuster-proof margin in the Senate, but some moderate Democrats have been wavering. Another Democrat, Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, has been seriously ill and often absent.

Any change in state law is not likely to happen immediately. Lawmakers are not expected to return to formal sessions until after Labor Day.

CURRENT LAW

State law requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after a vacancy occurs. The law bans an interim appointee.

The clock for a special election is triggered either on the date of a resignation or the incumbent's death. It's up to the governor to pick the exact date of the election.

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES

Any race to succeed Kennedy would be crowded and fiercely fought.

Despite speculation that Kennedy's wife, Vicki, could assume his Senate seat, family aides have said she is not interested in replacing her husband either temporarily or permanently. One of Kennedy's nephews, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, has also been described as interested.

Other potential Democratic candidates include state Attorney General Martha Coakley, U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch, Michael Capuano, Edward Markey, James McGovern and William Delahunt, and former Rep. Martin Meehan, now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

On the Republican side, potential candidates include Cape Cod businessman Jeff Beatty, former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, state Sen. Scott Brown and Chris Egan, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Cooperation and Development.

HISTORY OF CHANGE

The succession law was changed in 2004, when Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., became his party's presidential nominee and Republican Mitt Romney was the state's governor. Before the change, the governor would have appointed a replacement to serve until the next general election.

That would have created the opportunity for Romney to install a fellow Republican in office, a move that Democrats who control the state legislature sought to prevent.

Last week, Kennedy asked Massachusetts lawmakers to change state law to give Patrick, a fellow supporter of President Barack Obama and a backer of Obama's health care overhaul, the ability to appoint an interim replacement should he be unable to continue serving.

"It is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election," Kennedy said in a letter to Patrick.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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