After a day of near-empty polls and low voter turnout across the state, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley defeated her three Democratic competitors in Tuesday’s primary race to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, while State Senator Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, won the GOP contest, defeating Republican lawyer and businessman Jack Robinson III.
Coakley racked up 47 percent of the vote, followed by Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Somerville, who captured 28 percent of the vote. City Year co-founder Alan Khazei and Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca held 13 percent and 12 percent of the vote respectively.
Brown won an easy victory with 89 percent of the Republican vote.
More than 800,000 ballots were cast in total ‘- with more than 650,000 of those being for Democrats ‘- representing less than 15 percent of eligible state voters. Capuano won Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, where he was once mayor, Amherst and a few surrounding precincts by moderate margins, but Coakley took nearly all remaining districts and maintained her lead steadily as election returns came in after 8 p.m.
If she beats Brown in the Jan. 19 special election, she will be the state’s first female senator.
‘We did what might have seemed impossible with your help,’ Coakley said to supporters chanting her name at the Sheraton Boston ballroom after her victory was announced. ‘People said women didn’t have much luck in politics in Massachusetts. The luck was about to change and it changed tonight.’
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry also made an appearance at Coakley’s election party to voice his support.
‘We are closer than ever to passing health care for Americans and we need another Democratic senator in order to be able to do that,’ he said. ‘I want Martha Coakley as my partner in the Senate.’
Coakley readdressed important issues in the race, such as health care, education and job creation, in her acceptance speech, and thanked her opponents for bringing these issues to the table.
For his opponent, Capuano had kind words to offer.
‘I’m going to be there to make her the next senator between now and Jan. 19,’ he said. ‘When she gets elected, we’ll work . . . to make her successful.’
Republicans, typically a state minority, also gathered at Brown’s election party to show their support.
‘With tonight’s victory, we are halfway there. Now the race begins,’ Brown said.
Coakley and Brown will face off in the final special election on Jan. 19 to decide who inherits Kennedy’s seat and replaces interim Sen. Paul Kirk.
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