Deval Patrick

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama is planning to tap Eric Holder to be attorney general.

Holder, who was a deputy attorney general in former President Bill Clinton's administration, has long been rumored to be on Obama's shortlist for the post, along with Gov. Deval Patrick.

Newsweek cites two sources close to the transition team for the information. One source confirmed that Obama has offered Holder the job and Holder has accepted.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said late Monday that he is open to considering new ethics proposals drafted by Gov. Deval Patrick and other legislators.

"The governor, legislative leaders of both parties and individual lawmakers are discussing thoughtful proposals to reform our ethics laws and, while Massachusetts already has among the toughest standards in the nation, any necessary changes proposed by these groups will be fully considered," DiMasi, a Boston Democrat, said in a statement.

The Speaker was responding a proposed ethics rule change submitted by state Reps. Martin Walsh (D-Dorchester) and John Quinn (D-Dartmouth). The proposal calls for a six-year term limit on House Speaker, public hearings of the House Ethics Committees and stiffer penalties for illegal lobbying.

While speculation surrounding who President-elect Barack Obama will appoint to his cabinet runs rampant, there are several local positions the Obama administration will fill as well.

Here is an early breakdown of some of the names we've heard as possibilities for U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshall, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and regional administrator of the Small Business Administration, in no particular order. Most Democratic officials have said that it is too early to talk about specific candidates for federal jobs, but some have been willing to speculate about lists of potential appointees.

Who are we missing? Who shouldn't be on this list? Send tips to jeremy.jacobs@PolitickerMA.com.

U.S. Attorney

• Gerard Leone, Jr., Middlesex County District Attorney
• Daniel Conley, Suffolk County District Attorney
• Ben Clements, Gov. Deval Patrick's Chief Legal Counsel
• Garrett Bradley, State Representative of Hingham
• Andrea Cabral, Suffolk County Sheriff

Charlie Baker said Thursday that he is not interested in running for the U.S. Senate if John Kerry is tapped for a position in President-elect Barack Obama's administration.

Baker did not, however, rule out a future run for governor.

Baker, the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and former aide to Gov. William Weld, is widely considered to be the Massachusetts Republican Party's most viable statewide candidate.

"I won't be running for the Senate," Baker told PolitickerMA.com. "I haven't made any decisions beyond that."

Gov. Deval Patrick laid out his plan for restructuring Massachusetts' transportation Thursday morning in an editorial in the Boston Globe.

Patrick, a Milton Democrat, laid out his plan to consolidate transportation agencies, saying the "bureaucracy should be radically simplified."

"Multiple entities run different parts of our transportation system: the Turnpike Authority operates one highway while the Highway Department operates most others; Massport operates Logan Airport, the Tobin Bridge, and much of Boston Harbor; mass transit is divided among the MBTA and Regional Transit Authorities; DCR operates parkways," Patrick wrote. "Each has its own duplicative administrative overhead and strategy, personnel and pension systems, and maintenance programs."

Former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey hasn't closed the door on running in a special election for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, should he be appointed to a post in the Obama administration, she said Sunday night on the Weekly Filibuster radio show. Healy also took a swipe at Gov. Deval Patrick during her interview.

Healey (R-Beverly), who served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Mitt Romney and lost the governorship to Deval Patrick (D-Milton), said she hasn't ruled out running either for the Senate or for governor again.

"I'm definitely not closing the door to that," she said during the show. "I don't have any plans currently to do either of those two things, but I'm not averse to it."

Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday that he would support the state Senate expelling state Sens. James Marzilli and Dianne Wilkerson, the Associated Press reports.

During his monthly appearance on WTKK-FM, Patrick said that if the allegations facing Wilkerson and Marzilli are true, the Senate should remove them from office, according to the AP.

As the state faces a fiscal crisis, Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday morning that a special election to fill a vacated U.S. Senate seat would cost the state a lot, the State House News Service reports.

Democrats in the Massachusetts legislature stripped the governor from having the power to appoint a U.S. Senator should a vacancy occur in 2004 when U.S. Sen. John Kerry was running for president and Republican Mitt Romney was governor.

Now, with rampant speculation that Kerry is being considered for secretary of state, Patrick has said he is open to considering changing the law back.

"You can imagine how complicated and competitive it would be to have to choose among the extraordinary range of talent we have here in the commonwealth to fill a Senate vacancy," Patrick said, according to SHNS. "On the other hand, it's expensive to run special elections. So, as I say, I'm not driving it. If it comes to me, I'll deal with it when it does."

John Kerry was a little less forceful on Tuesday in denying his interest in a spot in an Obama administration than he was during the campaign and sources say he is actively seeking the job.

Speaking of the junior senator moving on, Gov. Deval Patrick is open to considering changing the law that calls for a special election to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat.

And, no, Treasurer Tim Cahill says he isn't interested in heading to Washington for an Obama post either.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney is looking forward to contributing to "rebuilding the [Republican] Party nationally."

And the Massachusetts GOP is coping with losing three seats in the state legislature.

Massachusetts broke turnout records for Election Day 2008, according to unofficial results.

State officials are trying to figure out how to implement Question 2, the successful ballot measure that would decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

Fresh off his trip to Chicago for Democratic President-elect Barack Obama's election night rally, Gov. Deval Patrick said again Wednesday that he is not interested in joining Obama's administration.

"Are you asking me if I am going to Washington again?" Patrick said, according to the Boston Globe. "No I am not. We have an ambitious agenda and a lot of work to do here. Frankly if the people will have me, I'd be interested in a second term."