The last time a Democrat was a first-term governor of Massachusetts was in 1979 (Ed King, serving between Dukakis' first and second terms). So it's really been almost 27 years since there was a Democrat in charge of the transition into the corner office of the state house.
The result of that dry spell is that right now no one knows how this works. I know a lot of people who are pretty plugged in to state politics, but they are as clueless as everyone else when it comes to the timetable and protocol for what's going on right now.
The reason this effects me is because I'm looking for a job, and everything is in transition, but no one knows how, so they can't quite tell me who I need to be talking to or how long this will all take. Additionally, even the offices that everyone is familiar with - state legislative seats - are also in flux because there will be appointments, but again no one knows when or who.
So the job hunt continues...