Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat of the late Democrat Edward Kennedy, a political upset that imperils health-care legislation in Congress and sends a warning shot to Democrats ahead of November’s elections.
Brown was running ahead of Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley by about 5 percentage points with roughly 80 percent of the state’s precincts reporting. Independent candidate Joseph Kennedy, no relation to the late senator, was running a distant third.
Brown, 50, a previously little-known state senator, cast himself as an independent voice who would help thwart President Barack Obama’s health-care plan and keep a check on Democrats in Congress, particularly on tax-increase proposals.
Brown’s victory increases his party’s Senate numbers to 41, which would enable Republicans to stall votes in the chamber on an overhaul of the U.S. health-care system, Obama’s top legislative goal.
His victory, in a state Obama won by 26 percentage points in the 2008 election, is the third recent high-profile Democratic loss. In November, the president’s party lost the governor’s mansions in New Jersey and Virginia. It follows decisions by five House Democrats since November to retire instead of face potentially tough races later this year.
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Featured comments:
What i enjoy most about tonight mark, is watching democrats freak out...they brainwashed themselves into thinking that the 2008 elections actually meant something substantial, as opposed to bush and war fatigue...so suddenly they are forced to realize that voters haven't really shifted from their small government theme much at all...
health care falls apart now...there is no way a coalition will hold against this...for heaven's sake, voters just destroyed kennedy's legacy with vengeance...imagine what they will do in states that are more favorable...
dems might lose 75 seats in november...
stop the bailouts, stop the spending, stop the stimulus and stop the wars...
DB
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