NORTHAMPTON — No decision has been made on whether a special election will be set to fill the seat held by the late Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, since 2002.
Scheduling such an election for the 1st Hampshire District, which includes the city of Northampton and the towns of Hatfield, Southampton, Westhampton and Montgomery, is the responsibility of House Speaker Robert DeLeo, said Debra O’Malley, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s office.
“They have the authority to set an election and choose a date,” O’Malley said.
The only requirement is to choose a date, which has to be a Tuesday based on state law, O’Malley said. A primary would take 28 days before the election. Kocot’s term expires this year.
Phone and email messages left for Whitney Ferguson, the chief of staff for DeLeo, were not immediately returned.
The position will also be the subject of another primary in September and a general election in November and would follow a similar process to filling the seats held by John Scibak, D-South Hadley, and Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, who both announced they will retire at the end of their terms.
Kocot, who died last Thursday, was the only candidate to take out papers for his seat, O’Malley said.
It’s unclear how the vacancy affects his constituents. A representative at his Boston office said questions are being referred to Kocot’s legislative aide, Diana Szynal, at his district office.
For more than 40 years, the seat has been held by Kocot and his predecessor, William P. Nagle Jr., who was first elected in 1974.
There have been few challengers to Kocot over the years. When Kocot initially won in 2002 after Nagle stepped down, he defeated Green-Rainbow candidate Michael Aleo. Kocot last faced competition in 2006, when he easily beat Republican John Andrulis, whom he had previously defeated in 2004.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
