2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts

2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts

January 19, 2010 (2010-01-19)

Nominee Scott Brown Martha Coakley Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,168,178 1,060,861 Percentage 51.86% 47.10%

County results Municipality results Congressional district results Precinct results Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Coakley:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%

U.S. senator before election Paul Kirk[a] Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Scott Brown Republican

The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010 to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013. The election was won by Republican candidate Scott Brown.

The vacancy that prompted the special election was created by the death of Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy on August 25, 2009. Kennedy had served as a U.S. senator since 1962, having been elected in a special election to fill the vacancy created when his brother John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States in 1960. Following Kennedy's death, Paul Kirk, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was appointed to fill the vacated Senate seat.

The primary election was held on December 8, 2009. The Democratic Party nominated Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, while the Republican Party nominated State Senator Scott Brown. The race drew national attention because Brown unexpectedly caught up with Coakley in independent and internal polling during the last few days of the campaign. Coakley took several actions during the campaign that were widely believed to have cost her significant support. For example, less than a month before the election, she took six days off from campaigning; Brown called this break a "vacation". Also, when criticized for leaving the state for a Washington fundraiser instead of campaigning, Coakley responded by asking, "'As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?'"

On January 19, 2010, Brown defeated Coakley, 51.83% to 47.07%, in a major upset. Brown's election broke the Democrats' filibuster-proof Senate majority.

Massachusetts law requires a special election to be held on a Tuesday, no fewer than 145 days, nor more than 160 days from the date of office vacancy, on a date determined by the governor. That range placed the election date between January 17 and February 1, 2010.^[1][2][3] Massachusetts law specifies that a party primary shall be held the sixth Tuesday before the general election.^[4] On August 28, 2009, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin presented the dates January 19 and 26, 2010, after meetings with State House Speaker Robert DeLeo, State Senate President Therese Murray, and aides to Governor Deval Patrick. Patrick was legally required to select one of these two dates. A January 19 election would require the primary to be held on December 8, while a January 26 election would have required a December 15 primary.^[1] Republican State Representative Karyn Polito suggested on August 28, 2009, that, because the possible election dates overlap the holiday season, the law ought to be rewritten to allow the special election to be held on November 3, 2009, to coincide with other elections in the state.^[5]

Patrick stated on August 29, 2009 that he wanted to honor a request by Kennedy that any appointee to the seat not run, and that he would address the issue of the election date "after we have finished this period of respectful grief."^[5] On August 31, 2009, Patrick scheduled the special election for January 19, 2010, with the primary elections on December 8, 2009. For party primary candidates, completed nomination papers with certified signatures were required to be filed by the close of business, November 3, 2009. Non-party candidates had a December 8, 2009, filing deadline.^[6][7][8]

A senator must, by the date of inauguration, be at least thirty years old, a U.S. citizen for at least nine years, and a state inhabitant of the state wishing to represent.^[9] In Massachusetts, candidates for the U.S. Senate must file nomination papers with certified signatures of 10,000 Massachusetts voters, by deadlines established by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.^[10] A candidate for nomination in a party's special primary election must have been an enrolled member of the party, through filing as a member of that party with the Secretary of the Commonwealth using a certificate of voter registration, for the 90 days preceding the filing deadline, unless the candidate is a newly registered voter. The candidate additionally must not have been enrolled in any other party in the prior year.^[11]

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• Replacement for Senator Ted Kennedy named

Seven days before his death, Senator Ted Kennedy communicated his desire to amend state law so that upon a U.S. Senate vacancy, the governor could appoint a senator to serve until the ensuing special election. Kennedy also asked that Governor Deval Patrick obtain the personal pledge of whoever he appointed to replace Kennedy that said appointee would not become a candidate in the ensuing special election.^[12][13]

A bill filed by State Rep. Robert Koczera of New Bedford in January 2009 proposed to permit the governor to appoint a senator; to enjoin the governor from appointing a candidate in a subsequent special election; and to permit the appointment date to occur only after the filing deadline for the special election had passed.^[14] Governor Patrick said he would push the General Court to pass the bill, and that he would sign it into law.^[15] The General Court held its first hearing on the legislation on September 9.^[16]

On September 17, 2009, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 95-58 to give the governor the power to appoint an interim senator.^[17] The Massachusetts Senate approved the measure on September 22, 2009, by a vote of 24 to 16,^[18] and both houses of the General Court gave final approval to the bill on September 23.^[19]

On September 24, 2009, Patrick appointed Paul G. Kirk, former Democratic National Committee chairman and aide to Ted Kennedy, to serve until the elected successor took office.^[20][21] Kennedy's two sons, Patrick J. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, Jr.,^[22] and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy,^[23] had all expressed their preference for Kirk. Kirk was sworn into office on Friday, September 25, 2009.^[24] He pledged not to be a candidate in the special election.^[21]

Wikinews has related news:

• Brown, Coakley win Massachusetts Senate seat primaries amid low voter turnout

The primary election was held on December 8, 2009.^[1][6]

• Mike Capuano, U.S. Representative from Somerville (announced September 18, 2009)^[25]
• Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Attorney General (announced September 3, 2009)^[26]
• Alan Khazei, co-founder and former CEO of City Year (announced September 24, 2009)^[27]
• Stephen Pagliuca, managing director of Bain Capital and managing partner of the Boston Celtics (announced September 17, 2009)^[28][29]

Results by Municipality

Results by Precinct

• Scott Brown, State Senator from Wrentham
• Jack E. Robinson III, perennial candidate^[31]

Brown announced his candidacy on September 12, 2009.^[32] He previously announced, on September 6, 2009, that he was exploring becoming a candidate under the "testing the waters" provisions of federal election law, and intended to announce his decision on whether he would become a candidate on September 9 or 10, 2009.^[33][34][35] On September 9, Brown said that he would not run if George W. Bush's White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card entered the race.^[36][37] On September 11, Card declined to run and offered his support to Brown.^[38]

Independent or third party candidates had until December 8, 2009 to submit nomination papers for signature certification.^[7]

Joseph L. Kennedy, a member of the Libertarian Party, ran as an independent.^[41] He has no relation to the politically prominent Kennedy family.^[42]

Initially, Coakley was heavily favored to prevail in the general election.^[43]

Brown considered himself a fiscal conservative and Washington, D.C. outsider.^[32] He said "I have always thought that being in government service is a privilege, not a right. This Senate seat doesn't belong to any one person or political party. It belongs to you, the people, and the people deserve a U.S. senator who will always put your interests first."^[32] Brown had called for fiscal restraint and smaller government, claiming that he had never voted for a tax increase. Brown also pledged to be the 41st vote against President Barack Obama's health care reform bill in the Senate.^[32][44] Assistant Professor Boris Schor of the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies described Brown as a liberal Republican by national standards, but well suited for his Massachusetts constituency.^[45][46][47] Brown drew attention for having appeared nude^[48][49][50] and semi-nude^[51] with his hands covering his genitals in a centerfold in Cosmopolitan in 1982.

During a State Senate debate in 2001, Brown had referred to the decision of his lesbian Democratic opponent, Cheryl Jacques, to have children as "not normal". He also described her parenting role as "alleged family responsibilities." Several Massachusetts LGBT activists condemned the statement. Brown apologized for his "poor choice of words", and he defended his position on that issue as being anti-gay-marriage and pro-civil-unions.^[52]

Brown filed an ethics complaint stating that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509 used state computers and e-mail addresses to direct employees of the state to volunteer for Coakley's campaign.^[53]

Controversy erupted over a conscientious objector amendment Brown sponsored in 2005, which, according to The Boston Globe, "would have allowed a doctor, nurse or hospital to deny rape victims an emergency contraceptive if it 'conflicts with a sincerely held religious belief.'" In the candidates' January 5 debate, Brown stated that he continues to support religious hospitals in refusing to provide emergency contraception, causing the woman to go to another hospital. He said, "That's really up to the hospital. There are many, many hospitals that can deal with that situation."^[54][55] Coakley ran a television advertisement attacking Brown over that saying, "Brown even favors letting hospitals deny emergency contraception to rape victims." Brown's daughter Ayla called the Coakley advertisement "completely inaccurate and misleading", and Brown criticized Coakley for running what he described as "attack ads".^[56]

Coakley took several actions during the campaign that were widely believed to have cost her significant support. For example, less than a month before the election, she took six days off from campaigning; Brown called this break a "vacation". The Boston Herald commented, "Laying low in the final weeks of a truncated election is unusual – and a luxury that only a very confident candidate could afford."^[57] Also, when criticized for leaving the state for a Washington fundraiser instead of campaigning, Coakley responded by asking, "'As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?'"^[58]

Two of Coakley's advertisements had to be re-edited after they first aired. One advertisement misspelled the word "Massachusetts' (spelling it Massachusettes), while another used old stock footage of New York's World Trade Center--which was destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks--to represent Wall Street. The second ad was meant to depict Brown as a Wall Street crony.^[59]

In a radio interview on January 16, 2010, Coakley described former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling as a "Yankee fan," which drew criticism.^[60][61][62] Schilling, who considered running for the Senate seat himself and later endorsed Scott Brown,^[63] responded by saying "I've been called a lot of things ... but never, I mean never, could anyone make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn't know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could ..."^[64][65] Coakley later described the comment as a joke.^[66]

Coakley's role in the case of Keith Winfield attracted criticism. In October 2005, Winfield, then working as a police officer, was accused of raping his 23-month-old niece with a hot object (most likely a curling iron). A Middlesex County grand jury overseen by Coakley investigated the case and did not take any action. After the toddler's mother filed applications for criminal complaints, Coakley obtained grand jury indictments charging Winfield with rape, assault, and battery. About ten months after the indictment, she recommended that Winfield be released without bail. Winfield remained free until December 2007. Coakley defended her decisions, saying that Winfield had a clean record and that there were few other signs of danger.^[67]

Brown accused Coakley of behaving like she was entitled to the Senate seat merely by dint of being the candidate of the Democratic Party; famously, he said during one of the candidates debates that the U.S. Senate seat was "not Kennedy's seat, and it's not the Democrats' seat; it's the people's seat".^[68]

People stand in line to see Barack Obama campaign for Martha Coakley at Northeastern University (top). Scott Brown supporters line the opposite side of the street (bottom).

CQ Politics and Cook Political Report rated the election as a "Tossup". The Rothenberg Political Report changed its rating from "Tossup" to "Lean Takeover" on January 18.^[69] Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report stated on January 17, said that he would put his "finger on the scale" for Scott Brown as favored to win. The Rothenberg Political Report released a statement that, "unless Democratic turnout exceeds everyone's expectations, Brown is headed for a comfortable win."^[70][71] As of January 18, Brown led Coakley in the Intrade prediction market by high double-digit margins.^[72][73] Statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com projected on January 18 that there was a 75% chance that Brown would defeat Coakley.^[74]

As of January 8, 2010, Martha Coakley raised over US$5.2million in total, and had $937,383 cash on hand. Scott Brown had $367,150 cash on hand. Brown spent $450,000 on television advertisements, while Coakley spent $1.4million.^[75] A week before the general election, Brown raised $1.3 million from over 16,000 donors in a 24-hour fund-raising effort. Reports also indicated that Brown raised an average of $1 million per day the week prior to the election.^[76] This outpouring of support from the Internet and other givers offset what had been relatively less support from national Republican committees, who had decided not to target the race publicly.^[77][78] In the final fundraising push one of Brown's contributions for $5,000 came from David Koch, a wealthy activist and supporter of conservative causes and campaigns. Koch had also given the National Republican Senatorial Committee $30,400 in November 2009 and the Koch Industries PAC gave $15,000 to NRSC right before the January 2010 special election.^[79][80]

Coakley admitted to making an "honest mistake" while filing the financial disclosure forms for her Senate run claiming to have no personal assets when in fact she had an account under her husband's name with over $200,000 and a personal Individual Retirement Account containing approximately $12,000.^[81]

Approximately US$23 million was spent on the election.^[82]

All three candidates participated in the debates. The first was held on the Jim & Margery show in Boston on January 5, and broadcast by WTKK. The January 8 debate was held in Springfield, Massachusetts and originating at WGBY-TV's studios, aired by them and its sister WGBH-TV-FM stations in Boston. The final debate was held on January 11 at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston and carried live on TV and radio on multiple stations throughout the state, and both television debates aired nationwide live on C-SPAN.^[84][85]

In regards to the coverage of the election, MSNBC was criticized by one reporter for perceived bias against Brown, while Fox News was accused of favoring Brown. One journalist reported that CNN and Fox News may have delivered more balanced coverage on the election day itself, providing both Republican and Democratic commentators.^[103]

On Fox's Hannity on January 11, political commentator Dick Morris solicited donations for a last-minute Brown advertising buy before the election, and said "please, please help (elect Brown)".^[104] Brown himself made multiple appearances on various Fox programs within a 24-hour-period, where he made fundraising solicitations during the course of the interviews.^[105][106]

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• Scott Brown wins special election for Massachusetts's Senate seat in upset victory

Polls closed at 8:00pm Eastern Time. At 9:06pm BNO News projected Brown as the winner of the race.^[114] At 9:13 p.m., The Boston Globe reported that Coakley had telephoned Brown and conceded the election.^[115]

2010 Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election^[116]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Scott Brown	1,168,178	51.86%	21.31
	Democratic	Martha Coakley	1,060,861	47.10%	22.20
	Libertarian	Joseph L. Kennedy	22,388	0.99%	N/A
		All others	1,155	0.05%	0.10
Total votes			2,252,582	100.00%	N/A
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing	{{{swing}}}

Shift by county^[b]

Trend relative to the state by county^[c]

Legend

•   Democratic—+20%−25%
•   Democratic—+15%−20%
•   Democratic—+10−15%
•   Democratic—+5−10%
•   Democratic—+<5%
•   Republican—+<5%
•   Republican—+5−10%
•   Republican—+10−15%
•   Republican—+15−20%
•   Republican—+20−25%
•   Republican—+25−30%
•   Republican—+30–40%
•   Republican—+40–50%
•   Republican—+>50%

County flips

Legend

• Democratic   Hold

  Republican   Flip

The Associated Press and The Boston Globe reported voting results for each of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts.^[118][119] Brown won in 229 of those 351 municipalities, while Coakley won in 121. Coakley and Brown tied in the small town of Hawley, each receiving 63 votes. In general, Brown drew support from suburban towns in the central and southeastern portions of the state, while Coakley generally fared well in the cities, in rural towns in western Massachusetts, and on the offshore islands. More specifically, support for Brown tended to be high in Hampden County, the 495 Corridor, the South Shore suburbs and the southwestern part of Cape Cod, particularly the Upper Cape. Brown also won or ran close to even in a number of historically Democratic working-class cities such as Worcester, Lowell and Quincy. Coakley generally fared well in the Berkshires and the cities, and had particularly strong support in college towns such as Amherst, Northampton and Cambridge.^[120]

After the election, senior Brown adviser Eric Fehrnstrom stated that the turning point for Brown was the December 30 "JFK ad"^[121] which put the campaign on the map. "After that, it was like riding a rocket ship for 2½ to 3 weeks till today," he said.^[115] Another widely aired Brown TV ad featured him crisscrossing the state in his 2005 GMC Canyon pickup truck, which had amassed nearly 200,000 miles on the odometer.^[122] In his victory speech, Brown said "I'm Scott Brown. I'm from Wrentham. I drive a truck."^[123]

Another critical event in the Brown surge was his debate performance on January 11. When asked by moderator David Gergen why he would oppose health care reform while holding the "Kennedy seat," Brown replied, "It's not the Kennedy seat and it's not the Democrats' seat. It's the people's seat."^[124] After the debate, "people's seat" became a rallying cry for Brown supporters.

Brown's late surge was made possible by support by conservative bloggers, who immediately after the Massachusetts primary began promoting his candidacy among national conservative activists, who sought to challenge the Democrats in every election.^{[125][126][127]} At the same time, national Republicans were not publicly targeting the campaign, leading one paper to claim Brown was "left to fend for himself."^[77] Undaunted, the Brown campaign succeeded through its moneybomb in raising millions of dollars from Internet donations down the stretch run of the campaign.^[128]

Barack Obama named Coakley's disastrous rhetorical question about whether she ought to stand outside Fenway Park in the cold shaking hands^[129] as a defining moment for his presidency and for his healthcare proposal; to Obama, it reflected Coakley's inept handling of a race that should have been easily winnable.^[130]

Coakley's defeat was considered a major upset.^{[131][132][133]} Her defeat cost her own party a U.S. Senate supermajority and "turned her into a political pariah and the butt of 'Saturday Night Live' sketches".^[134]

Brown's unexpected victory "sent shock waves through the electoral landscape. Democrats in the Senate lost the 60th seat, imperiling their carefully crafted deal on health insurance reform and requiring serious reflection on what went wrong and how to correct it". Democratic commentators "blamed Coakley’s lackluster campaign effort" for the election outcome.^[135]

The election was viewed by conservatives outside of Massachusetts as a referendum against President Barack Obama.^[136] However, Brown stated that he didn't believe that it was a referendum on Obama.^[137]

• President Barack Obama, via political advisor David Axelrod – "I think that there were a lot of elements to the message [in the election]. Health care was part of it."^[138]
• Jim Webb (D-VA) – "The race was a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated."
• Steny Hoyer (D-MD) – "We will all be making a mistake if we believe that the message that was delivered in Massachusetts last night was unique to Massachusetts. That anger was directed, frankly, at all of us."^[139]

Republicans were elated at the election result.^{[140][141][142]}

• John Cornyn (R-TX) – "Democrats nationwide should be on notice: Americans are ready to hold the party in power accountable for their irresponsible spending and out-of-touch agenda, and they're ready for real change in Washington. This is very energizing to a lot of people, Republicans and independents."^[143]
• Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – "There's a reason the nation was focused on this race. The American people have made it abundantly clear that they're more interested in shrinking unemployment than expanding government. They're tired of bailouts. They're tired of the government spending more than ever at a time when most people are spending less. And they don't want the government taking over health care."^[144]
• John Boehner (R-OH) – "For nine months, I've talked to you about the political rebellion that's been brewing in America. It manifested itself in August at town hall meetings around the country. We saw it manifest itself in what happened in Virginia and New Jersey back in November. And we saw it manifest itself again last night in Massachusetts, when the people of Massachusetts stood up and said, 'enough is enough.' And it's pretty clear that while the American people continue to speak, the Democrat leadership here in this House continues to ignore them and is looking for some way to continue to press this health care bill to a vote."^[145]
• Eric Cantor (R-VA) – "The American people, the people of Massachusetts last night have rejected the arrogance. They are tired of being told by Washington how to think and what to do,"^[146]
• John McCain (R-AZ) – "Last night, a shot was fired around this nation: saying no more business as usual in Washington, D.C."^[147]
• Olympia Snowe (R-ME) – "I never say anything is dead, but I think that clearly they're going to have to revisit the entire issue. I think that was true from the outset. I think there were a lot of concerns that ultimately, collectively manifested themselves in yesterday's vote. The American people are rightfully frustrated and they should be. This process is not becoming of this institution, the United States Congress. You can't drive a policy that doesn't have the support of the American people."^[148]

• List of United States senators from Massachusetts
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