Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Ailing Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy asked state officials to change succession laws to make sure his Senate seat doesn’t sit vacant if he dies or can’t continue in office as the chamber debates health-care legislation.

Kennedy, a Democrat who has brain cancer, sent a letter to Governor Deval Patrick, state Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, all Democrats, seeking action to let Patrick appoint a temporary replacement, if necessary, to serve until a special election is held.

Elected to the Senate in 1962, Kennedy has been a congressional leader on health-care issues and is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. During treatment for his cancer, he has been absent for much of the wrangling about President Barack Obama’s push to revamp the U.S. health-care system.

In a letter dated July 2, Kennedy, 77, said he supports the current state law requiring a special election within 145 to 160 days after a Senate vacancy. That law was enacted in 2004, when the state’s other senator, Democrat John Kerry, was running for president. It replaced a procedure that would have let the governor at the time, Republican Mitt Romney, appoint a replacement.

With a Democratic governor now in office, Kennedy’s request would let Patrick keep Democrats from losing one vote on health-care legislation if he dies or can’t fulfill his duties during the Senate debate.

‘Two Voices’

“I strongly support that law and the principle that the people should elect their senator,” Kennedy said in the letter, which was reported in the Boston Globe. “I also believe it is vital for this commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate.”

In the letter, Kennedy urged Patrick to only appoint an interim replacement who has made “an explicit personal commitment not to become a candidate in the special election.”

Obama hasn’t talked with Kennedy or Patrick about the letter, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today.

The governor’s office didn’t say whether it would seek changes to the succession law. Fred Bayles, director of the Boston University Statehouse Program, said Kennedy’s wishes are likely to be honored.

“It’s typical of Ted Kennedy to be thinking ahead, and about the people of Massachusetts, when the rest of us are thinking about him,” Patrick said in a statement.

Kennedy’s current six-year term extends through 2012. A special election for his seat in the interim likely would draw a large number of competitors.

‘Little Turnover’

“There is little turnover in the Massachusetts delegation and therefore, for those who want to move up, there are going to be a lot of suitors,” said Paul Watanabe, political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

“There will be a mad scramble and it will have an accordion effect,” Watanabe said. “It will potentially influence statewide races up and down the line.”

The senator’s wife, Victoria, has told friends she doesn’t want the seat, the Boston Globe reported. Other relatives, including Kennedy’s nephew Joseph P. Kennedy, a former congressman, haven’t indicated their intentions.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.netHeidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 20, 2009 17:13 EDT