With Sen. Kennedy’s passing, the future of his now vacant senate seat could have immense implications for the fate of health care reform. Under current Massachusetts law, an election to fill the seat must now be held within the next 145-160 days. That’s under a law the Democratic legislature passed in 2004 to prevent then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) from appointing John Kerry’s successor should Kerry have been elected president. Shortly before his death, Kennedy appealed to state leaders to change the law saw that a senator (needless to say, a pro-health care reform Democrat) could hold the seat during the crucial health care votes this fall.
Nothing happened before Kennedy’s death. So what happens now? Can they still change the law?
Eric Kleefeld looks at the legal question and the political situation in the Bay State to find out what is likely to happen next.
