Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death Tuesday from brain cancer creates a vacancy in the Senate and a special election to fill that vacancy.
Just a week before his death, Kennedy sent a very personal letter to Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, the state Senate president and the state House Speaker asking the legislature to change the state’s laws to allow Patrick to appoint a successor to serve in Kennedy’s seat until a special election can be held. The current law calls for a special election to be held between 145 and 160 days from the occurrence of a vacancy. It also requires that a primary take place six weeks before that. The law does not permit the Governor to appoint anyone to fill the seat in the intervening five months. While Kennedy believed in letting voters choose the person to fill the remainder of an unexpired term, he also felt that the seat should not be left vacant for five months given the issues before the Senate. The Senate Democratic leadership and the White House also reportedly feel that it is important
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.