Caretaker Named to Massachusetts Senate Seat

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Sen. John Kerry to succeed Hilary Clinton as the next Secretary of State. Moving quickly to fill the Senate seat vacancy, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick appointed Mo Cowan, his former chief of staff, to replace the commonwealth’s senior Senator and serve as a caretaker until the June 25 special general election. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.-5) is the only announced special election candidate from either political party, but Boston Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.-8) is expected to join the race before week's end. Democratic Party leaders have worked hard to give Markey an unimpeded march to the nomination, but a Lynch candidacy means that there will be a significant Democratic primary to be decided in an April 30 election. Little definitive action has occurred on the Republican side, but the party's nominee will likely be either former Sen. Scott Brown, ex-Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, or former state Senator and 6th District congressional candidate Richard Tisei.  Former Gov. Bill Weld is unlikely to enter the contest. Should Brown decide to run, he will almost assuredly have an unopposed primary, thus providing him an opportunity to build momentum for what will be a very difficult special general campaign. Since Markey's late December 2012 announcement, he has failed to develop a major statewide presence and may have lost valuable time. With last week's MassINC poll (1/16-19; 435 Mass. registered voters) projecting Brown to be holding a 53-31 percent lead over the Malden area Democratic Congressman, and now with at least a moderately competitive primary challenge from Rep. Lynch potentially on his hands, this race is quickly becoming more interesting. The final field of candidates will formulate over the next few days and then the real race will begin. For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at (202) 547-5013 or ashinoffd@agc.org.