Why was there a special election in Massachusetts yesteday?

Vacancy filling is done at the discretion of the state. When Mitt Romney, a Republican, was governor and John Kerry, a Democrat, was running for President, the Massachusetts legislature changed the procedure so that the governor would not be able to appoint a successor. The reason they changed the procedure was to ensure that Romney could not appoint a Republican to replace Kerry if he won the Presidency.

When Kennedy died, the legislature in Massachusetts modified the procedure to allow the governor, Deval Patrick, a Democrat, to appoint a temporary Senator and delay the special election in order to not interrupt the Health Care "reform" bill. They pushed off the special election without ever considering that a Republican could ever win "Teddy's seat."

Had the legislature not decided to play politics in 2004, they would still have John Kerry as Senator and Ted Kennedy's replacement would have been appointed by the Democrat governor. Had Ted Kennedy stepped down when he found out how sick he was, the special election would have been held last year, prior to the Democrats shooting themselves in the foot with Independent voters. He could have hand picked a successor and campaigned for them as his last effort for his cause.

Funny how things work out, isn't it. The Democrats got what they deserved.

Individual state laws determine the method of choosing replacement Senators for other Senators who have died or left office before the end of their term. In Massachusetts, they hold a special election rather than use an appointee.