Mass. Governor Set To Name Ted Kennedy Successor

GLEN JOHNSON

BOSTON (AP) — Former Democratic National Committee chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. was the favored pick Thursday as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick prepared to announce a temporary replacement for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Kennedy's sons, Edward Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., both lobbied for Kirk in separate phone calls to the governor, according to a family confidant and a Patrick aide. The governor scheduled a late-morning news conference at the Statehouse to declare his choice, and aides would not rule out the attendance of Vicki Kennedy, the senator's widow, as a sign of the family's approval.

Kennedy died last month of brain cancer, and an appointee will serve until a permanent successor is chosen through a special election scheduled for Jan. 19. The appointment will restore a critical 60th Democratic vote in the U.S. Senate as President Barack Obama pushes to pass a health care overhaul that was Kennedy's life passion.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Legislature approved a bill allowing the governor to make an interim appointment after a contentious debate and a whirl of parliamentary maneuvering.

Patrick planned to send a letter to the secretary of state to declare an emergency, allowing him to override a legislative vote that defeated his administration's effort to make the bill take effect immediately. Normally, legislation faces a 90-day waiting period.