about Elizabeth Warren-why would someone refuse to run for POTUS then agree to the VP position?

[karynnj]

34. Until someone wins the special election

If Warren is the candidate, they will know in November that she will resign her seat in mid January - likely the day before she is sworn in as VP.

In 2013, Kerry became SoS was confirmed on January 29th. The special election was won by Markey on June 25th. In 2013, the process could not really start until Kerry was confirmed - even though it was highly likely after he was officially named. Just as we hopefully would know that Warren was highly likely to be VP well before November.

Using the same time frame, the need for a special election starts in early November 2016 ... and following the same time line, could happen in April 2017. (So, the Republican appointed by Baker would be from around mid January to mid April - about three months! )

Note that when the legislature first changed the rules in 2004, they were intentionally allowing the seat to be empty for those three months had Kerry been elected. In 2009, when the gap would have longer, the Democrats in the MA legislature kept the special election, but allowed an interim appointment.