Letter of the day: Behold the machinations to maintain a U.S. Senate seat

Last update: September 25, 2009 - 6:46 PM

In 2004, John Kerry was a Democratic senator from Massachusetts who was running for president. Had he won, the state law was such that the governor would name the replacement. The Democrats had control of both Massachusetts houses and did not want to lose the U.S. Democrat Senate seat. The catch was that Mitt Romney, a Republican, was the governor. So a law was passed that required a special election be held to name the replacement. Now that Ted Kennedy has passed away, the Democrats do not want to take a chance of possibly losing that seat through a special election, or not have that Democratic vote available for any of the bills that the Democrats are trying to get passed. On Sept. 22, the Massachusetts Senate gave Gov. Deval Patrick the right to name Kennedy's replacement instead of waiting until Jan 2010 for the special election. The vote was 24-16 after nine Democrats voted against the bill. So could this be another case of Democrats changing laws to fit their needs and changing them again to fit their needs?

MIKE MCLean, Richfield

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