This morning, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced he would appoint William "Mo" Cowan as interim senator to fill newly appointed Secretary of State John Kerry's seat until a special election. Cowan was Gov. Patrick's chief of staff from January 2011 to November 2012; before that he served as Patrick's chief legal counsel.

Cowan is also African-American. Serving alongside Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), this is the first time America has had two black senators serving at the same time. Interestingly enough, Sen. Scott is also a governor-appointed senator.

A relative unknown to people outside Massachusetts, Cowan went to Duke and Kelly Bensimon's future alma mater Northeastern University. Cowan left Gov. Patrick's office to return to practicing law in the private sectorHe has not indicated whether or not he's interested in running in the special election to formally fill the seat held by Sen. Kerry since 1985.

[Image via AP]