The Hearst-owned, ABC-TV affiliate in Boston, WCVB-TV, is running this story, as of the past 10-15 minutes…
William Cowan picked to fill Kerry's seat
Seat filled as Kerry confirmed by Senate as secretary of state
UPDATED 9:27 AM EST Jan 30, 2013
BOSTON —Gov. Deval Patrick has named William "Mo" Cowan, the governor's former chief-of-staff, to temporarily fill John Kerry's Senate, NewsCenter 5 has learned.
Cowan currently serves as a senior adviser to Patrick and is the former president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association. He's a graduate of Duke University and Northwestern University School of Law...
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...Patrick is scheduled to make an official announcement about his pick at 11 a.m.
The governor has said his selection would be a person who is not planning to run in the special election and someone who will be "a good steward" for the commonwealth...
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HuffPo UPDATE (As Of 10:05AM EST, 1/30/13):
HuffPo, a few moments ago…
WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) will appoint William "Mo" Cowan to the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry after he was confirmed Tuesday, according to CBS Boston, The Boston Globe and the Associated Press.
Cowan, 43, is a former chief of staff and former legal counsel to Gov. Patrick. Like Patrick, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago before attending Milton Academy, Harvard and Harvard Law, Cowan came from a poor background to Boston for education and made a career there. After growing up in poverty in rural North Carolina, Cowan went to Duke University and then Northeastern University School of Law. He never left, and became a prominent Boston lawyer.
Gov. Patrick has consistently said that the pick to succeed Kerry should not run in the general election slated for June 25. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) requested in a letter written before his death that the interim pick not run in the general election, a principle that Patrick honored after Kennedy died by picking Kennedy's longtime chief of staff, Paul Kirk.
Patrick, the state's first African-American governor, said recently on local cable television that it was a priority for him to pick a woman or a person of color for the seat..
(end of update)
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As most reading this already know, Senator Kerry was appointed Secretary of State by President Obama; and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, yesterday.
A special election will be held for the seat on on June 25th.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey has announced his candidacy. And, Rep. Steven Lynch plans to announce his candidacy on Thursday, according to WCVB.
The AP has reported the Republican Scott Brown "...will join the field next week. Sources said Brown has not finalized his plans, but was 'leaning strongly toward' another Senate bid, however a Brown spokesman said the report was 'incorrect.'"