Attorney General Martha Coakey took a big step toward becoming the first female U.S. senator from Massachusetts by winning a four-way race for the Democratic nomination to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat.
State Sen. Scott Brown, who has carved out a decidedly conservative record, bested a perennial candidate to win the Republican nomination, but faces an uphill challenge in the Jan. 19 election in a state that frequently votes Democratic.
Brown is a veteran legislator and lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard who has also gained local notoriety as a former Cosmopolitan centerfold model and the father of an “American Idol” contestant. He earned 78 percent of the vote, with 1,543 of 2,168 precincts reporting.
Coakley earned 47 percent of the vote, ahead of Rep. Michael Capuano with 28 percent, City Year service organization co-founder Alan Khazei with 13 percent and Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca who spent millions of his own money on the campaign with 12 percent.
Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, called each of the Democrats early Tuesday to wish them well, an aide said. His family had been careful not to endorse any one candidate.
Massachusetts has a Democratic governor, an all Democratic congressional delegation, and Democratic majorities in both legislative branches.
Kennedy, who died Aug. 25 of brain cancer, held his seat for nearly 47 years and became a liberal Democratic icon despite a string of personal foibles that dashed a 1980 campaign for the presidency.
His seat has been held on an interim basis by Paul G. Kirk Jr., a former Democratic National Committee chairman, until it is filled permanently on Jan. 19.
The election was the first time since 1984 that Massachusetts residents voted in a U.S. Senate race with no incumbent.
Coakley, 56, targeted women and abortion rights supporters. Her last-minute pitch included prerecorded robocalls from former President Bill Clinton, who said, “You can trust her to get results in the Senate just as she has as your attorney general.”
While Coakley opposes sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, Brown supports President Barack Obama’s buildup.
Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, decided against running, saying she could not compete with her late husband’s legacy. His nephew, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, eschewed a race because he felt he could be more effective running his non-profit energy assistance company.
