Kerry confirmed as secretary of state, replacement named

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Wednesday named his former chief of staff, William “Mo” Cowan, to fill temporarily the U.S. Senate seat that John Kerry will vacate this week.

The Democratic appointee told reporters he had no plans to run in the June 25 special election to choose a permanent successor to Kerry.

“I’m going down in this temporary period to continue the good work that Senator Kerry and his team has been doing,” said Cowan, 43, a former civil rights lawyer with the Boston firm Mintz, Levin. “Senator Kerry has worked in close partnership with Governor Patrick and so you can expect me to do the same.”

Cowan will become the second African-American in the current Senate, a distinction that Patrick, who is Massachusetts’ first black governor, said influenced his choice.

Locally Rep. Richard Neal applauded the decision.

“I want to personally congratulate Mo Cowan on being named the state’s interim Senator. Given his past experience as Governor Patrick’s Chief of Staff and legal counsel, I know he has a firm grasp on the issues that are important to the people of Massachusetts,” said Rep. Neal.

This move came after Sen. Kerry was confirmed as President Barack Obama’s new secretary of state.

The Senate confirmed his nomination on Tuesday, by an overwhelmingly lopsided vote of 94-3.

The vote was met by applause by Kerry’s Senate colleagues. The only three to vote against his nomination were Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Senator John Cornyn (D-Texas) and Senator Ted Cruz  (D-Texas). Sen. Kerry abstained from voting for his own nomination.

Sen. Kerry will be filling the office currently held by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and will resign from the United States Senate on Friday (Feb. 1) to take up his new position.

He has represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate for 28 years, although he is best known to national audiences for his unsuccessful run for president against George W. Bush in 2004.

“John Kerry is a true statesman, and he will be an extraordinary secretary of state. His experience as a Navy lieutenant, veteran, prosecutor, lieutenant governor, senator and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee uniquely qualifies him to represent the people of the United States around the world. I was proud to cast my vote – and I am excited to call him Mr. Secretary,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in a statement released to the press.

Sen. Warren will become Massachusetts’ senior senator less than a month after she first took office.

Sen. Kerry’s resignation sets up a contest to fill his senate seat, which is expected to be very competitive.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on January 31, 2013. Filed under National News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry