Paul Kirk Named To Kennedy Seat

Mass. Governor Deval L. Patrick ’78 announced yesterday that Paul G. Kirk Jr. ’60, a former aide to Edward M. Kennedy ’54-’56, will fill the late U.S. senator’s seat until a special election is held in January.

Kirk, a longtime family friend who served as a special assistant to Kennedy for eight years, is scheduled to take the oath of office today. Kennedy’s successor will serve until a permanent replacement is selected in an election on Jan. 19—a race in which Kirk, 71, said he will not participate.

“He shares the sense of service that so distinguished Senator Kennedy,” Patrick said yesterday during a news conference in Boston. “The interests of the commonwealth have never been more vital or at stake in the Congress today.”

Kirk’s appointment closes the door on far-flung speculation regarding Patrick’s choice for a successor to Kennedy, who died of brain cancer last month. News of the impending appointment gained widespread attention—especially among some Congressional Democrats—as the move to speedily fill Kennedy’s seat was seen as a concerted effort to ensure the passage of a health-care reform package.

In a statement released after the announcement of Kirk’s appointment, President Barack Obama said he was “pleased” that the Mass. Senate contingent will be complete in a time when issues such as health care, financial reform, and energy are undergoing heated debate.

Kirk was rumored to be the favored candidate, with the Boston Globe reporting Wednesday that Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Kennedy, and his two sons, U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy Jr., had informed the governor that Kirk—a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee—was their first choice.

Before the announcement yesterday morning, Patrick’s staff circulated a list of talking points that called Kirk a “faithful steward” of the Senate seat with a “strong reputation as a person of character, high integrity and honesty.”

Law School Professor Laurence H. Tribe said Kirk, a 1964 graduate of the Law School, will be a “tremendous” Senator whose close affiliation with Kennedy and his political vision will enable Kirk to assume his new responsibilities “without missing a beat.”

“[Kirk] has a very good sense of policy, he has a terrific sense of humor, he’s very adept at political negotiation, and he’s a very affable person,” Tribe said. “I think he will do very well in building coalitions to the extent that it’s possible in that brief a time.”

The Massachusetts Senate approved a bill Wednesday to authorize Patrick to appoint a temporary replacement, in accordance with Kennedy’s request that the legislature change the law to permit Patrick to select an interim Senator in the event of his death, until a special election could be held.

In addition to Kirk, names that had been circulated in the press included former Mass. Governor and 1988 presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, former Mass. Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Murphy, and Harvard Law Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr.

—Staff writer Esther I. Yi can be reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.