Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I have to admit that I did not anticipate this move. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced Sen. John Kerry’s replacement this morning — William “Mo” Cowan, Patrick’s former chief of staff. Deval Patrick chooses a replacement for John Kerry:
Cowan will hold seat until this summer, when voters will choose someone
to serve out Kerry’s term (in the running, so far, are Rep. Ed Markey
and Rep. Stephen Lynch). In the meantime, Cowan will be the eighth
African American to serve in the United States Senate, and the sixth
since Reconstruction. What’s more, this will be the first time in more
than a century that two African Americans have served concurrently in the Senate.
It should be said that Cowen will also be the third African American appointed
to serve in the Senate. So far, only three blacks in the
post-Reconstruction period have been elected to the legislative body:
Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke, and Illinois senators Carol Mosely
Braun and Barack Obama.
WBZ-TV (Boston) reporter Jon Keller reports:
“I have to say, as someone who’s covered the Patrick administration from
day one, the trains never ran as smoothly as they did when Mo Cowan was
the chief engineer.”
So what does this do for Cowan after a permanent replacement is elected in June?
“Assuming things go smoothly between now and the end of June,” Keller
said, “I would say you’d have to put Mo Cowan on your list of
potentials for the 2014 governor’s race, if he’s interested.”
WBZ-TV’s Sera Congi reports: