Home
Archive
Newsletters
Video
Blogs
Discuss
About
Search
Donate
Advertise
  • AlterNetYour turn

Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.


Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Paul Kirk Appointed to Kennedy's Seat

Posted by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet at 8:32 AM on September 24, 2009.


Lawmakers passed legislation in the past few days allowing Governor Deval Patrick to name an interim senator.

Share and save this post:

      

      

Share on Facebook       

AlterNet Social Networks:
follow us on twitter
find us on Facebook

Got a tip for a post?:
Email us | Anonymous form

Get PEEK in your
mailbox!

 

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick just announced that former DNC chairman Paul Kirk will be taking Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. Reuters reports:

Kirk, backed for the post by Kennedy's wife Victoria and his two sons, will fill the seat until voters in Massachusetts elect a permanent replacement in January. His appointment will restore a 60-seat Senate majority for the Democrats that could help President Barack Obama's push to overhaul healthcare.

Kirk, a 71-year-old attorney who was Kennedy's special assistant in the 1970s and remains close to his family, was seen as a natural candidate to take over the Senate seat.

Lawmakers in heavily Democratic Massachusetts passed legislation in the past few days allowing Governor Deval Patrick to name an interim senator, something Kennedy pushed for before he died in August from cancer so his party would not lose a key vote during the healthcare debate.

"The issues before the Congress and the nation are too important for us to be one voice short," Patrick told reporters as he appointed Kirk after signing the legislation.

Kennedy was a towering figure in the U.S. Senate for nearly half a century and made healthcare reform his signature issue as he carried on his storied family's political legacy.

Without an interim replacement, his seat would have lain vacant until a January 19 special election of a permanent senator to serve through 2012.

Digg!

Tagged as: democrats, kennedy, health reform, kirk


Scahill and Olbermann on Blackwater: Murderous Crusaders for Christ
Scary stuff.
Post by Joshua Holland. November 27, 2009.
Dispatches from the Real Economy: They're Locking Up the Deodorant
You can tell a lot by what gets displayed in a case behind lock and key.
Post by Lindsay Beyerstein. November 27, 2009.
Where Does Karl Rove Find the Nerve to Criticize Anyone About Deficits?
The chutzpah!
Post by Steve Benen. November 27, 2009.
Advertisement
You've chosen to turn comments off for the entire site. Would you like to turn them back on?