According to news reports the Governors of Colorado and New York have chosen candidates to fill the pending Senate vacancies in their respective states.

In New York, Governor Paterson will reportedly tap Caroline Kennedy to fill the Clinton seat though it remains unclear as to whether she would be a caretaker Senator or would run for the seat in 2010. Clinton was last elected to a six-year term in 2006 so under the Constitution there will be a special election in 2010 for the final two years and then another vote in 2012 for a full term.

I must admit to finding the New York habit of tapping celebrity names for their Senators to be a bit odd, but that is certainly their own business.

In Colorado, Governor Ritter has reportedly tapped Denver School Chief Michael Bennet for the seat being vacated by Ken Salazar. Bennet was not among the early favorites for the seat (though he was named as a possible Secretary of Education) which could mean he would be a caretaker but he is young and probably would want to run in 2010.  On the other hand he might end up in the Cabinet which would open the seat up for the full term. The seat is up for regular election that year so there would be no special election in this case.

In terms of ideology the Kennedy pick does not seem to change things much from Clinton, though Kennedy might be more liberal on national security issues. I don’t know as much about Bennet but would speculate he will be more liberal than Salazar who had been a key member of various bipartisan groups in the Senate.