He succeeds Democrat John Kerry, who just took over as secretary of state.

Cowan was picked by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick to serve as interim senator until after a special election June 25. He stepped down as Patrick’s top aide last December.

Cowan is the second African-American senator from the state. Republican Edward Brooke served from 1967 to 1979. With Cowan and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., there are now two African-American senators serving together for the first time.

Scott was also a gubernatorial appointee to his seat. Cowan was a partner in a Boston law firm before going to work for Patrick.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed