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 Ted 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.
Background
Timeline
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. Massachusetts law specifies that a party primary shall be held the sixth Tuesday before the general election. 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. 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.
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." 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.
Appointment
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.
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. Governor Patrick said he would push the General Court to pass the bill, and that he would sign it into law. The General Court held its first hearing on the legislation on September 9.
On September 17, 2009, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 95-58 to give the governor the power to appoint an interim senator. The Massachusetts Senate approved the measure on September 22, 2009, by a vote of 24 to 16, and both houses of the General Court gave final approval to the bill on September 23.
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. Kennedy's two sons, Patrick J. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, Jr., and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, had all expressed their preference for Kirk. Kirk was sworn into office on Friday, September 25, 2009. He pledged not to be a candidate in the special election.
Democratic primary
The primary election was held on December 8, 2009.
Candidates
- Mike Capuano, U.S. Representative from Somerville (announced September 18, 2009)
- Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Attorney General (announced September 3, 2009)
- Alan Khazei, co-founder and former CEO of City Year (announced September 24, 2009)
- Stephen Pagliuca, managing director of Bain Capital and managing partner of the Boston Celtics (announced September 17, 2009)
Republican primary
Candidates
- Scott Brown, State Senator from Wrentham
- Jack E. Robinson III, perennial candidate
Campaign
Brown announced his candidacy on September 12, 2009. 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. 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. On September 11, Card declined to run and offered his support to Brown.
Other candidates
Independent or third party candidates had until December 8, 2009 to submit nomination papers for signature certification.
Joseph L. Kennedy, a member of the Libertarian Party, ran as an independent. He has no relation to the politically prominent Kennedy family.
General election
Initially, Coakley was heavily favored to prevail in the general election.
Brown considered himself a fiscal conservative and Washington, D.C. outsider. 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." 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. 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. Brown drew attention for having appeared nude and semi-nude 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.
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.
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." 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".
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." 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?'"
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.
In a radio interview on January 16, 2010, Coakley described former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling as a "Yankee fan," which drew criticism. Schilling, who considered running for the Senate seat himself and later endorsed Scott Brown, 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 ..." Coakley later described the comment as a joke.
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.
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".
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. 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." As of January 18, Brown led Coakley in the Intrade prediction market by high double-digit margins. Statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com projected on January 18 that there was a 75% chance that Brown would defeat Coakley.
Finances
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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
Approximately US$23 million was spent on the election.