Brown captures Senate seat in upset

For the first time in more than 30 years, Massachusetts voters are sending a Republican to represent them in the United States Senate.

State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, defeated Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in a stunning upset with 52 percent of the vote against 47 percent, according to the Associated Press’s unofficial tally.

Coakley was the one-time heavy favorite to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, but polls released in the days leading up to the election showed that Brown had pulled even.

President Barack Obama called Brown to congratulate him on his victory immediately after the results had been announced. The election of Brown will give the Republicans 41 votes in the Senate, meaning a united GOP could potentially block major items on Obama’s agenda, such as health care reform.

‘The President told Senator Brown he looked forward to working with him on the urgent economic challenges facing Massachusetts families and struggling families across our nation,’ White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. ‘The president thanked Attorney General Coakley for her hard work and urged her to continue her advocacy on behalf of working people.’

Despite snow and rain Tuesday, Massachusetts voters came out to vote at a rate that was much higher than the 20 percent turnout in the Dec. 8 primary. AP results showed a turnout of 54 percent, which is on the higher end of Secretary of State William Galvin’s prediction to the AP of a turnout between 40 and 55 percent. The turnover was in fact the highest for a non-presidential election in Massachusetts since 1990.

Confusion over the legitimacy of the voting was quickly eliminated earlier in the night, after Coakley’s campaign manager Kevin Conroy released a statement saying there were ‘reports of voters being handed ballots already marked in favor of Scott Brown.’ The Massachusetts Secretary of State dismissed any reports of voter irregularities a few hours later.

Both campaigns have in the last week organized countless rallies, phone banks and meetings all over the state in a last push for support before the final election.

Democrats including Obama and former President Bill Clinton flew into Boston over the weekend, asking the people of Massachusetts to vote for Coakley after polls revealed her lead over Brown had all but vanished.

Republicans staged rallies of their own, one which featured former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsing Brown Friday in the North End

The U.S. Senate has not had a Republican senator representing Massachusetts since 1979, when Sen. Edward Brooke concluded his term.

As Brown is still concluding Kennedy’s unexpired term, he will face reelection in 2012.