Digital News Report – Scott Brown has won the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by Senator Ted Kennedy. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Brown has beaten his Democratic challenger Martha Coakley 52-47 percent.
This changes the dynamics in the U.S. Senate; the Democrats have lost their filibuster-proof majority. The loss in Massachusetts puts President Barack Obama’s health care proposal and other initiatives in jeopardy.
Independent voters were the deciding factor. “Tonight the independent voice of Massachusetts has spoken,” Brown told his supporters at a victory rally. This is the first time a Republican has held a Senate seat in the Bay State since 1972.
Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal calls the victory a stark illustration of Democratic support collapsing from independent voters. “But Massachusetts is now the third Obama-won state in the past three months where independents have swung decisively Republican,” the Journal said.
“I am ready to go to Washington without delay,” Brown told his supporters Tuesday night.
The Boston Herald said Brown becomes the “lone GOPer in the 12-person federal delegation from the Bay State.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment