Coakley, Brown Win Primaries In Special Election For Mass. Senate Seat

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) on Tuesday won a four-candidate primary to become the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) until his death in August, Roll Call reports (Cadei, Roll Call, 12/8). With 98% of precincts reporting, Coakley captured 47% of the primary vote, Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) earned 28%, social entrepreneur Alan Khazei won 13% and Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics, received 12%. The Democratic candidates have similar positions on most major issues, and all have said they support abortion rights and universal health care. Coakley was quick to condemn efforts in Congress to add additional restrictions on abortion coverage to health reform legislation, the New York Times reports.

If elected, Coakley would become the state's first female senator (Goodnough, New York Times, 12/9). According to Roll Call, she "led from start to finish" in a special election "that failed to generate much attention across the state" (Roll Call, 12/8). In the final 10 days of the race, Coakley -- whose support of abortion rights earned her an early endorsement from EMILY's List -- "got a last-minute boost" from the endorsement of former President Clinton, who recorded a phone message on her behalf, according to the Times (New York Times, 12/9). She also benefited from $400,000 in spending by the Service Employees International Union and abortion-rights advocacy groups for mail campaigns, phone banks and radio ads (Mooney, Boston Globe, 12/9).

In the Republican primary, state Sen. Scott Brown defeated lawyer Jack Robinson, earning 89% of the vote to Robinson's 11%. Roughly 37% of Massachusetts' 4.1 million registered voters are Democrats and 11% are Republicans; the state has not elected a GOP candidate to the Senate in 37 years (New York Times, 12/9). According to Roll Call, "Given the state's strongly Democratic tilt, [Coakley] is heavily favored to prevail" in the general election on Jan. 19 "and continue the state's tradition of sending strong progressives to Congress." Both primaries are estimated to have drawn fewer than one million voters (Roll Call, 12/8).

Though the primary "was expected to be one of the biggest multipronged wars in Democratic political history," the race to succeed Kennedy ultimately attracted little attention, according to CongressDaily. The winner of the general election will replace Sen. Paul Kirk (D), who was appointed to the seat after the state Legislature altered a law allowing Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to name an interim senator (McPike, CongressDaily, 12/9).

Globe Editorial Praises Coakley Campaign

In the last two weeks of the primary campaign, Coakley looked "like a senator, skillfully engaging her three Democratic rivals in televised debates, while offering an appealing mix of forcefulness in protecting abortion rights and measured judgment in controlling government spending and investigating terrorist threats," a Boston Globe editorial says. According to the Globe, Coakley's victory "was a tribute to the credibility she earned during a three-decade career in public service, and especially to the passion generated by Massachusetts professional women, eager to see one of their own on the national stage" (Boston Globe, 12/9).


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