Are you ready for yet another U.S. Senate election in Mass.?
December 13th, 2012 at 4:14 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
Will Massachusetts have six U.S. Senate elections in the space of eight years?
It certainly looks possible after Thursday afternoon’s announcement that Susan Rice is withdrawing from consideration as President Obama’s next secretary of state, opening the door for the president to appoint Mass. U.S. Sen. John Kerry.
If Kerry gets the job, Massachusetts could have a special election as soon as June to fill Kerry’s seat for the reminder of his term, which ends in January 2015. Potential candidates include a long list of Democrats – though not Congressman-elect Joe Kennedy III – and Republicans Scott Brown or Bill Weld.
A special election next year would be the fifth time Massachusetts residents have gone to the polls to choose a U.S. senator since November 2006.
Bay State voters re-elected Ted Kennedy for the final time that year, then re-elected Kerry in 2008, elected Scott Brown to finish Kennedy’s term in 2010, and replaced Brown with Elizabeth Warren last month. And special election or not, they will vote for U.S. senator again in 2014 when Kerry’s current term ends.
​(photo: AP/Gerald Herbert)
Tags: bill weld, campaign 2012, campaign 2013, campaign 2014, democrats, joe kennedy, john kerry, massachusetts, obama administration, politics, republicans, scott brown, susan rice, u.s. senate
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
Okay… but Ted, three of those elections were regularly scheduled ones. Brown’s was the only one that came before it was scheduled. I’m just sayin’, it’s not like Mass. voters are being run ragged with U.S. Senatorial elections here.
No to a special election. There is a precedent here. South Carolina will not have one with DeMint leaving. Governor Nikki Haley will appoint DeMint’s successor WITHOUT a special election. Governor Patrick & Dem legislature should enact new “mini-law” prior to Kerry resigning his Senate seat that holds the election for this seat until the next general election (2014) and Governor Patrick be granted the authority to appoint this interim successor for the final portion of this six year term.
Fair is fair. What’s good for South Carolina makes sense for Massachusetts, too.