Patrick, a Democrat, chose January 19, 2010, as the date for a special election to select a replacement for the remainder of Kennedy’s term and the chairmen of a key state legislative committee announced plans to hold a hearing next week on a bill that would allow the governor to appoint a temporary successor.

The primary for the January special election will be held on December 8. State law required the governor to choose a date within 145 to 160 days of a Senate vacancy.

In a statement, the state House and Senate chairmen of the Joint Committee on Election Laws said they would hold a September 9 hearing on a bill to give the governor authority to appoint a temporary successor until the special election.

At a news conference in Boston on Monday, Patrick reiterated his support for changing the current succession law, but said it was too soon to talk about who he might name if the legislature passed a bill.

“I wholly support the special election and the democratic process to fill the remaining two years of Senator Kennedy’s term,” Patrick said. “But I will continue to work with the legislature on legislation authorizing an interim appointment to the United States Senate for the five months until that special election happens.”

Among those who have been discussed as possible interim successors is Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy. At Monday’s press conference Patrick said he had spoken with Kennedy and that she was not interested in the job.

Other frequently mentioned names include 1988 Democratic presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis and former Democratic National Committee chairman, Paul G. Kirk Jr., who led a tribute to Kennedy on Friday as the chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

In an interview with POLITICO Monday, Dukakis declined to comment on whether he would accept a temporary appointment but said he fully supported the push to change the succession law.

“I think it is very important that Massachusetts have two senators as soon as possible, no question about it,” Dukakis said. He added that, with the possibility of a vote on health care reform likely to take place on Capitol Hill sometime before the end of the year, “it is crucial not to leave the Senate in a position where it can’t act because of the filibuster.”

In a statement, Democratic state Rep. Michael J. Moran, who co-chairs the election law committee, said that Kennedy’s death had caused the committee to “accelerate the time line” to consider a temporary succession bill, which had been slated for a hearing in October

Moran told POLITICO Friday that he supports changing the law – a request that Kennedy himself made before his death – but indicated that he and some of his legislative colleagues wanted to be sure that the temporary Senate pick would not be allowed to run in the special election.

“A lot of us believe that there is validity in having a second vote and a second voice,” Moran said. “But most of us don’t want to see a handoff.”

On Monday, Governor Patrick suggested that preventing the interim replacement from running would “probably be unconstitutional,” so instead he said he would seek personal assurances from that person that they would not run for the seat.

If given the authority to make an appointment, Patrick said he would want “someone who understands the issues facing the Commonwealth, understands the importance of having those interests served by being a strong voice in the United States Senate. I think we’d want someone who is up to speed, or who can quickly get up to speed, on health care issues and jobs bills and education initiatives and climate change legislation, which are the key initiatives before the Congress right now.”

In response to a reporter’s question at Monday’s news conference, Patrick also took himself out of the running for seat.

“I’m running for re-election as governor, just to be clear,” he said.