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Here's another thing to add to your holiday checklist: Decide who you would like to see serve as Massachusetts' next U.S. senator.

Exactly one month from today, Bay State voters will get a rare chance to cast a ballot for an open seat in the Senate.

That hasn't happened since John Kerry was first elected to the seat previously held by Paul Tsongas a quarter of a century ago.

That Dec. 8 vote will be a primary to decide the two finalists for the position vacated by the Aug. 25 death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who had represented the state on Capitol Hill for nearly 50 years.

Massachusetts voters are fortunate in that all registered voters, even if they are not a Democrat or a Republican, can vote in a party primary. Unenrolled voters - who far outnumber members of either party - are free to vote in either primary. State law even requires that unenrolled voters' affiliation return to that status, even after casting a ballot as a Democrat or a Republican. In other words, you have no excuse not to vote.

On Jan. 19 - 72 days from today - the nominees from both parties will square off in a vote that will be watched around the country. It appears now that health care overhaul will not be decided until 2010; the state's new senator may play a key role in that important issue.

We encourage local voters to do their homework on the candidates now.

Much of the attention has been focused on the Democratic race where voters have a choice of some career politicians (Congressman Michael Capuano and Attorney General Martha Coakley), a business leader (Steve Pagliuca, a venture capitalist and part owner of the Boston Celtics) and a social activist (Alan Khazei, founder and CEO of City Year). Expect to be inundated with political commercial over the next few weeks, though we encourage you to seek out objective assessments of the candidates.

On the Republican side, local voters are bound to be far more comfortable with state Sen. Scott Brown of Wrentham, who has a long record of public service in the Attleboro area. Brown's only challenger appears to be Jack E. Robinson, a Cape Cod businessman who has tried three statewide campaigns in recent years without coming close to victory. Party insiders are quietly trying to urge Robinson to step aside to clear the field for Brown.

The winner in January will serve the remaining three years of Kennedy's term and will carry enormous clout as America decides on such issues as health care and the war in

Afghanistan.

The decision demands some thought and some research, at least as much as what gifts you'll be buying for the kids this Christmas.