SALON

Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 3:00 PM UTC

Mass. gov. picks ex-aide Cowan as interim senator

By

Topics: From the Wires, ,

Mass. gov. picks ex-aide Cowan as interim senatorFILE - This undated file photo released by the Massachusetts Governor's office shows William "Mo" Cowan, right, former chief of staff for Gov. Deval Patrick. On Wednesday, Jan. 30 2013, Patrick will appoint Cowan as interim senator to fill our the term for John Kerry, who was confirmed to be the next secretary of state Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Massachusetts Governor's Office, File)(Credit: AP)

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick has named his former chief-of-staff William “Mo” Cowan to serve as interim U.S. senator for Massachusetts until a special election can be held this summer to fill the seat left vacant by John Kerry’s confirmation as the nation’s new secretary of state.

A person with knowledge of the appointment who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made said Patrick picked Cowan, who will serve until the June 25 special election. An announcement was expected later Wednesday morning.

Patrick gave little indication whom he favored during his deliberations. The only possible candidate Patrick confirmed speaking with was former Congressman Barney Frank, and then only after Frank told reporters he’d spoken with Patrick.

Michael Dukakis, the former governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, and Victoria Kennedy, widow of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, had also been mentioned as possible candidates for the interim post.

Cowan’s appointment also signals the official start of the special election race. So far the only announced candidate is Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey. Fellow Democratic Congressman Stephen Lynch also is weighing a run and is expected to announce his final decision soon.

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who won the 2010 special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, has not announced whether he will run in the special election.

Brown, who is still popular in Massachusetts despite his unsuccessful re-election campaign last year, would be considered a frontrunner with a campaign effort that could easily be revived and an ability to raise tens of millions of dollars.

Brown also has some hurdles, including his loss last year to Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

A primary is scheduled for April 30.

The candidates face a tight schedule to raise money and convince voters to put them in the Senate.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said he’s ready to immediately release nomination papers. Candidates will have four weeks to collect the 10,000 signatures they need to get on the ballot.

Markey has already publicly challenged all Democratic and Republican candidates who might jump into the special election to agree to keep outside groups from spending money on political ads. He said he wants a deal similar to the so-called “people’s pledge” agreed to by Brown and Warren in last year’s Senate race.

More By Bob Salsberg.

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

 0 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: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations