The death of Sen. Ted Kennedy leaves a huge hole in the U.S. Senate, according to former Third District congressman Bill Barrett of Lexington.

Although Barrett, a Republican, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1990-2000 and didn’t directly work with the democratic senator, he described him as an outstanding legislator.

“He was intelligent and had been there so long,” Barrett said. “He was also able to work across the aisle with Republicans which is a bit unusual back there.

“That made him more effective.”

Because health-care reform was Kennedy’s priority for many years, Barrett said he’s concerned that legislation now under consideration may turn into a memorial for the liberal senator.

Although Barrett didn’t agree with most of Kennedy’s politics, he said it will be a long time before anyone replaces the last of the Kennedy brothers in the Senate.

He added that his death could mean the end of the Kennedy family dynasty even though one of Kennedy’s sons, Patrick Kennedy, serves in the House of Representatives.