Chandler takes top post while Stan on temp leave
The state Senate is turning to Stanley C. Rosenberg’s handpicked deputy to serve as acting president in his place, capping a tumultuous day for a chamber struggling to grapple with the explosive sexual allegations leveled against Rosenberg’s husband.
The ascension of Senate Majority Leader Harriette Chandler to the top post by a 31-6 vote came after Democrats huddled for 7 hours in a tense, closed-door caucus to find Rosenberg’s replacement amid what officials called “unprecedented” turmoil.
The six dissenting votes were all from Republicans who backed state Sen. Bruce Tarr, the minority leader from Gloucester.
Hours earlier, Rosenberg said he was taking a leave of absence from his Senate president post in the face of mounting pressure and, soon after, authorities said they were prepared to launch a criminal investigation into his husband, Bryon Hefner, after four men told the Boston Globe that he either groped or forcibly kissed them while bragging about his influence in Rosenberg’s powerful office.
Chandler, a Worcester Democrat who turns 80 later this month, sought to ensure the legitimacy of the Senate’s own probe — to be conducted by an outside investigator — arguing she personally “will have nothing to do with the investigation itself,” and that she will urge the Senate’s Ethics Committee to make its investigator’s findings public.
Chandler also said she’s “resolved” to give up her post once the investigation wraps. Senators offered no timetable for when they hoped to finish it.
“Somebody has got to lead the chamber. It’s acting, it’s temporary,” she said of her post. “I think it’s the best that we can do.”
Rosenberg said his leave would extend “until the investigation ... reaches its conclusion.” He added in a letter to the Senate clerk: “I will of course continue as a member of the Senate.”
But his continued presence within the body — and potential to return to its top position — is raising some questions about the probe’s independence and how the Senate will operate under a prolonged acting leader.
Still unclear is whether Rosenberg’s staffers — who are recused from working on the internal probe — would work directly under Chandler. Senators also said they still haven’t determined exactly who will work out of the Senate president’s ornate, third-floor office, or whether Chandler, too, will collect the $80,000 annual stipend tied to the post.
“I haven’t even thought of that. You’re way ahead of me,” Chandler told a reporter.
The Senate’s internal probe will focus largely on whether Rosenberg violated any Senate rules. Ethics Committee members are scheduled to gather for a meeting this morning at the State House.
Attorney General Maura Healey and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley also said they were prepared to open a criminal investigation and urged victims and witnesses to come forward.
“We ask anyone with this information to contact either office, and we remind every survivor of sexual assault that they can count on us to provide a safe, respectful, victim-centered environment, no matter what the circumstances might be,” they said in a joint statement. “Sexual assault is a crime and we want to send a clear message that harassment and assault of any kind will not be tolerated.”
As of yesterday afternoon, Healey’s office said it had yet to connect with any alleged victims. “There’s no way to put a good label on today,” state Sen. Mark Montigny said of the Senate’s rapid-fire developments, “other than, probably, it’s an imperfect but maybe logical conclusion.”