SALON

Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 3:25 PM UTC

Massachusetts Gov. Patrick names Kennedy successor

Paul Kirk, a former aide to the late senator and one-time DNC chair, will serve in the Senate for a few months

By

Topics: Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senate, War Room,

Massachusetts Gov. Patrick names Kennedy successorIn this May 12, 2008, photo, Paul Kirk, Jr., left, chairman of the John Kennedy Library Foundation Board of Directors, is seen alongside the late Sen. Edward Kennedy at the annual Profile in Courage Award ceremonies at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

As expected, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced during a press conference Thursday morning that he’s chosen Paul Kirk to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat on an interim basis. Kirk will serve until after a special election is held early next year; both he and the governor said at the press conference that he will not be a candidate.

Kirk is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee and a one-time aide to Kennedy; he remains close enough to the family that he’s the current head of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. The late senator’s widow and sons had put their weight behind Kirk for the appointment.

At the press conference, Kirk acknowledged the Kennedy family’s support, and signaled that he’d validate their trust in him by working “to be a voice and a vote for [Kennedy's] causes and his constituents.” He also said he hoped to retain the late senator’s staff.

Primary among the causes Kirk and his friend’s family have in mind, of course, is healthcare reform, an issue that was close to Kennedy’s heart. Kirk could provide a crucial vote, and it was for that reason that the Massachusetts legislature voted to change the law to allow Patrick to make the appointment. It was also for that reason that Patrick sent a letter to the secretary of state that allows the law to take effect immediately.

Kirk is expected to be sworn in to office on Friday.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 6 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations