Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts today named Paul G. Kirk Jr to fill the US Senate seat left vacant by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Mr. Kirk is a former DNC chairman as well as a former aide of the late Senator Kennedy. Mr. Kirk, 71, is currently the chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston. The appointment is an interim one. He will fill the seat only until a special election can be held on January 19, 2010 to determine a successor to fill the seat for the balance of the term.

More from the Boston Globe:

Governor Deval Patrick today named Paul G. Kirk Jr. to serve as interim US senator, making the announcement in the presence of the immediate family of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

"He is a distinguished lawyer, volunteer, and citizen, and he shares the sense of service that so distinguished Senator Ted Kennedy," Patrick said at a news conference at the State House. "Paul will not seek the open seat in the special election coming up in January. But for the next few months, he will carry on the work and the focus of Senator Kennedy, mindful of his mission, and his values, and his love of Massachusetts."
The late senator's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, and one of his sons, Ted Kennedy Jr., watched from the audience as Patrick introduced his selection.

"This appointment is a profound honor," Kirk said. "I accept it with sincere humility."

Kirk, a longtime Kennedy family friend, reiterated that he would not run in the special election and said he planned to keep the late senator's staff.

GOP Files Motion Requesting an Injunction
However, the Massachusetts Republican Party filed a motion in Suffolk Superior Court requesting an injunction to keep the appointment of Mr. Kirk from taking effect. In its motion, Republican leaders in the Bay state argue that it was unconstitutional for the governor to have put the new law into effect immediately.

Barring a court order, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said that Mr. Kirk will be sworn in at 3:15 p.m. EDT on Friday.

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From the New York Times:

The State Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint an interim replacement for the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. The measure won passage in the House of Representatives last week and is expected to land on Mr. Patrick's desk Wednesday.

The appointee would serve in the United States Senate only until a special election takes place on Jan. 19, but could play a crucial role in the fate of health care legislation making its way through Congress. With Mr. Kennedy's seat empty, Senate Democrats are not assured the 60 votes required to break Republican filibusters.

Mr. Patrick has refused to discuss potential appointees, but Michael S. Dukakis, the former governor and 1988 presidential nominee, is said to be under consideration. Other possibilities include Paul G. Kirk Jr., a former aide to Mr. Kennedy and chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston; Evelyn Murphy, a former lieutenant governor; and Charles Ogletree, a professor at Harvard Law School.

The bill does not prohibit the temporary appointee from seeking Mr. Kennedy's seat permanently -- legislators feared that such a condition would not pass constitutional muster -- but Mr. Patrick has said he will ask the appointee to promise not to run in the special election.

Mr. Patrick's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the vote.

The Senate voted 24 to 16, with all 5 Republicans and 11 Democrats opposed. Therese Murray, the Senate president, remained publicly noncommittal on the proposal until just before the vote, despite calls from the Obama administration and from Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Mr. Kennedy's widow. Ms. Murray ultimately supported it.

Under current law, Mr. Kennedy's seat would have remained empty until the special election on January 19, 2010. Now the seat is likely to be filled by week's end.

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