Tweet
Democrats: When the law doesn't favor your party, change the law!
With support building for the change, Beacon Hill Democrats filed legislation yesterday to strip Governor Mitt Romney of his power to fill the Senate seat that Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry would vacate if he wins in November.
The bill, sponsored by the House and Senate cochairmen of the Joint Committee on Elections Laws, would mandate a special election within 105 to 130 days after a vacancy in the Senate is declared. The seat would not be filled temporarily.
One top Massachusetts Democratic leader said he is confident that the bill will whisk through with enough votes to override an expected Romney veto. House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran said yesterday that the Legislature would take a serious look at the proposal.
"We will have to examine that honestly and in depth with some hearings," Finneran said at a breakfast meeting of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce in Quincy.
Leaders in the House and Senate held back endorsement of the plan, although Representative William M. Straus and Senator Brian A. Joyce, chairmen of the Joint Committee on Election Laws, said they had solid support from the heavily Democratic Legislature to pass the bill.
No shit!, I wonder how long Massachussetts Governors have had the authority to appoint replacement Senators. I guess the law was fine and dandy so long as it was a Democrat Governor doing the appointing.
Said Joyce, a Milton Democrat: "My sense is that there is fairly strong support in the Senate, and Bill says there is a strong support in the House."
Only Oregon and Washington provide for special elections to fill a vacated Senate seat.
Currently, under a longstanding law, the governor appoints an interim senator who serves until the next statewide election. In the case of a Kerry resignation, a Romney-appointed interim senator, presumably a Republican, would serve until the 2006 election.
The move to change the system, which surfaced two weeks ago, has set off partisan attacks and counterattacks. A host of prominent Democrats are quietly eyeing the Senate seat. Also, there are high national political stakes because of the razor thin division in the US Senate.
Romney denounced the bill yesterday, saying that the Democrats are indulging in "speculation and gossip" about who will get to chose the next US senator. He said it was "just wishful thinking" that Kerry will beat President Bush.
"This is nothing but a transparent power grab by a monopoly party that wants to change the rules in the middle of the game to keep the old boys' club in power," said a statement released by Romney's office.
The governor also said that a campaign for the US Senate should allow sufficient time for fund-raising and "a full discussion of the issues through a normal primary campaign and general election."
"The only people who benefit from a shotgun election are incumbent congressmen with large war chests," Romney said. "In Massachusetts, that means women and people of color are shut out of the process."
Democrats said Romney's insistence on making the interim, two-year appointment is an effort to ensure that the Republicans can obtain one of the state's most highly prized political positions. They say his argument is inconsistent with his promotion of himself as a reformer who eschews patronage and politics as usual.
"I can't think of a public policy reason for denying to the voters the chance to pick the US senator and deny the governor this old-style patronage plum," said Straus, a Democrat from Mattapoisett.
Except when a Democrat Governor gets to pick of course...
Secretary of State William F. Galvin, the Commonwealth's chief election officer, sounded some concerns about the details. He said that he wants to make sure the time frame for the election is sufficient for candidates to gather the necessary 10,000 certified voter signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Link: here
The bill, sponsored by the House and Senate cochairmen of the Joint Committee on Elections Laws, would mandate a special election within 105 to 130 days after a vacancy in the Senate is declared. The seat would not be filled temporarily.
One top Massachusetts Democratic leader said he is confident that the bill will whisk through with enough votes to override an expected Romney veto. House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran said yesterday that the Legislature would take a serious look at the proposal.
"We will have to examine that honestly and in depth with some hearings," Finneran said at a breakfast meeting of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce in Quincy.
Leaders in the House and Senate held back endorsement of the plan, although Representative William M. Straus and Senator Brian A. Joyce, chairmen of the Joint Committee on Election Laws, said they had solid support from the heavily Democratic Legislature to pass the bill.
No shit!, I wonder how long Massachussetts Governors have had the authority to appoint replacement Senators. I guess the law was fine and dandy so long as it was a Democrat Governor doing the appointing.
Said Joyce, a Milton Democrat: "My sense is that there is fairly strong support in the Senate, and Bill says there is a strong support in the House."
Only Oregon and Washington provide for special elections to fill a vacated Senate seat.
Currently, under a longstanding law, the governor appoints an interim senator who serves until the next statewide election. In the case of a Kerry resignation, a Romney-appointed interim senator, presumably a Republican, would serve until the 2006 election.
The move to change the system, which surfaced two weeks ago, has set off partisan attacks and counterattacks. A host of prominent Democrats are quietly eyeing the Senate seat. Also, there are high national political stakes because of the razor thin division in the US Senate.
Romney denounced the bill yesterday, saying that the Democrats are indulging in "speculation and gossip" about who will get to chose the next US senator. He said it was "just wishful thinking" that Kerry will beat President Bush.
"This is nothing but a transparent power grab by a monopoly party that wants to change the rules in the middle of the game to keep the old boys' club in power," said a statement released by Romney's office.
The governor also said that a campaign for the US Senate should allow sufficient time for fund-raising and "a full discussion of the issues through a normal primary campaign and general election."
"The only people who benefit from a shotgun election are incumbent congressmen with large war chests," Romney said. "In Massachusetts, that means women and people of color are shut out of the process."
Democrats said Romney's insistence on making the interim, two-year appointment is an effort to ensure that the Republicans can obtain one of the state's most highly prized political positions. They say his argument is inconsistent with his promotion of himself as a reformer who eschews patronage and politics as usual.
"I can't think of a public policy reason for denying to the voters the chance to pick the US senator and deny the governor this old-style patronage plum," said Straus, a Democrat from Mattapoisett.
Except when a Democrat Governor gets to pick of course...
Secretary of State William F. Galvin, the Commonwealth's chief election officer, sounded some concerns about the details. He said that he wants to make sure the time frame for the election is sufficient for candidates to gather the necessary 10,000 certified voter signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Link: here
Comment