Mass. Gov. Patrick certifies vote, allowing GOP’s Brown to be sworn in as Kennedy successor

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Mass. certifies GOP’s Brown as Kennedy successor

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has certified the results of Scott Brown’s upset Senate election win, clearing the way for the Republican to succeed the late Democrat Edward Kennedy.

Vice President Joe Biden was slated to swear in Brown at 5 p.m. Thursday. Brown will become the 41st Republican member of the Senate, the precise number of votes the GOP needs to filibuster Obama administration initiatives.

Brown had been planning to be sworn in on Feb. 11 but demanded the date be moved up a week after criticism from some conservatives about the delay in replacing Kennedy.

The senator-elect says he wants to participate in a series of upcoming confirmation votes. That would include one for union lawyer Craig Becker to become a member of the National Labor Relations Board.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Scott Brown is poised to take over the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s long-held seat a week earlier than he had planned, ending the Democrats’ Senate supermajority and giving the GOP 41 votes they can use to block President Barack Obama’s agenda.

A swearing-in ceremony was set for 5 p.m. Thursday for the little-known Massachusetts state senator who shocked the nation with his upset victory last month over a favored Democrat and put the 2010 midterm elections in play for a possible GOP takeover of Congress. Originally, Brown had said he did not want to be sworn in until Feb. 11.

But in response to criticism from conservative radio hosts and newspaper columnists, he pressed Massachusetts officials on Wednesday to certify his election for the hurry-up swearing-in to fill the last two years of Kennedy’s term. One had dubbed his wait a “three-week victory lap” since the Jan. 19 special election in which Brown defeated Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin quickly delivered official copies of the election results to the Governor’s Council. Gov. Deval Patrick’s staff said the governor would sign Brown’s election certificate in the council’s presence — as required by law — during a ceremony in Boston on Thursday morning.

Brown said Wednesday there were upcoming Senate votes he wanted to participate in, after saying earlier that he needed time before taking office to hire a staff and prepare for his new job. Former Democratic Party Chairman Paul Kirk has been holding the seat temporarily on an appointment from Patrick. Kennedy died in August from brain cancer.

Brown’s vote could make a difference in the Senate’s consideration of union lawyer Craig Becker to become a member of the National Labor Relations Board.

Republicans have held up Becker’s confirmation for months, saying Becker might use the post to make labor laws more union-friendly without congressional approval. A Senate panel was expected Thursday to send his nomination to the full Senate, where Democrats would need 60 votes to overcome a GOP hold and push the nomination through.

Brown rode a wave of populist, anti-government sentiment to claim a seat Kennedy had held in Democratic-dominated Massachusetts for nearly a half-century.

His victory rocked Democrats, put a dagger in Obama’s health care overhaul just as it was nearing the legislative finish line and catapulted Brown onto the national stage. He made a recent appearance on “The Jay Leno Show.”

Brown, 50, has promised to be an independent voice. He recently said he’s told Senate Republican leaders they won’t always be able to count on his vote.