Ted Kennedy's friend Paul Kirk now favorite for Senate seat
| Boston
Paul Kirk now appears to be the front-runner to take the late Sen. Edward Kennedy鈥檚 Senate seat until a special election is held in January.
Senator Kennedy鈥檚 sons and his widow have endorsed Mr. Kirk, a long-time Kennedy friend and the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Both Edward Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D) of Rhode Island have contacted Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick 鈥� who will make the appointment 鈥� to express their support for Kirk, . Kennedy鈥檚 widow, Victoria, is also , who is currently chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library.
The news represents a shift from Tuesday, when Gov. Michael Dukakis seemed to be a shoo-in, even earning .
Regardless of which way Governor Patrick is leaning, however, procedural hurdles remain.
Both the Massachusetts House and Senate have now passed a bill to change to the state鈥檚 election laws. The bill grants the governor the ability to appoint a temporary replacement to occupy Kennedy鈥檚 seat until the state can hold a special election in January.
But dictates that a bill does not become law until 90 days after the governor signs it.
The state would need to suspend this regulation so Patrick鈥檚 appointment can arrive in Washington in time to impact the US Senate鈥檚 fall calendar. To do this, the law will have to be .
But in Wednesday鈥檚 House vote, the bill鈥檚 proponents failed to get the necessary two-thirds margin to approve emergency status.
This means Patrick will have to sign a letter declaring it an emergency, says state Senate President Therese Murray. The governor鈥檚 aides declined to say whether Patrick had drafted such a letter, the Associated Press reports.
-----
Follow us on .
