FOXNews.com: Speculation heats up on Mass. Senate race, as Kerry emerges as top Obama pick

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Speculation heats up on Mass. Senate race, as Kerry emerges as top Obama pick Dec 15th 2012, 17:55 Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry now emerging as the likely next secretary of state has heated up speculation on whether state Democrats can hold onto his senate seat. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry has been a top contender for the spot since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced she will not stay during President Obama' second term. However, Kerry emerged as the leading candidate after embattled U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice withdrew Thursday from the running. The speculation about Kerry and the Massachusetts senate sweepstakes intensified Saturday follows a Chicago Sun-Times report that Obama has picked Kerry – opening the door for a special election and a potential candidacy for Republican Sen. Scott Brown who lost his reelection bid last month. Brown would again face a tough challenge, consider Massachusetts in a heavily Democratic state. However, state law calls for a special election, not a gubernatorial appointment, and Brown has pulled off an upset before. Massachusetts created a law in 2004 that calls for a special election to fill a U.S. Senate seat. Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick altered the law in 2009, for the death of fellow party member and Sen. Ted Kennedy. The change  allowed the governor to appoint an interim senator until the special election. Patrick cited the pressing need for Massachusetts to be part of the then-ongoing national health care debate. State Democrats would likely have a difficult time again changing the law. And Patrick has indicted he will name an interim appointee who would promise not to run for the seat, as he did in 2009 with former Kennedy Chief of Staff Paul G. Kirk Jr. Brown then defeated Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley.  "I expect to do the same thing I did last time," Patrick told the Boston Globe. "As a practical matter, it's hard for me to imagine how you could serve in the Senate for a four-month period and also run a statewide campaign in a four-month period and do both of them well." Brown could not be reached Saturday but hinted at a possible third run when he said Wednesday in his Senate farewell speech: "Obviously, we may meet again." Last month, Brown lost in a hard-fought challenge from liberal Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the most expensive U.S. Senate race in state history. The popular Republican raised roughly $28.5 million compared to Warren's $37 million. Former Gov.  William F. Weld's name has been mention as a potential Republican candidate should Brown not run. Kerry's term ends 2014. Kennedy's widow, Vicki Kennedy, has previously ruled out running for office, but her name has been mentioned as a possible interim appointee. Other Democrats mentioned are University of Massachusetts at Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan; three-term Rep. Niki Tsongas, whose husband Paul Tsongas held the Senate seat before Kerry; and Attorney General Martha Coakley, who lost to Brown. Patrick has said he will serve out his term that ends in 2014.

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