Live coverage of the US Senate race - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe
10:24 p.m. -- Scott Brown campaign manager Beth Lindstrom says the campaign started about 4 1/2 months ago with just a few people who believed in "the little campaign that could."
10:11 p.m. -- President Obama has called both candidates to congratulate them. "The President congratulated Senator Brown on his victory and a well-run campaign. The President told Senator Brown that he looks forward to working with him on the urgent economic challenges facing Massachusetts families and struggling families across our nation. The President thanked Attorney General Coakley for her hard work and urged her to continue her advocacy on behalf of working people," press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
10:07 p.m. -- Coakley left the stage and shook people's hands to the strains of "Don't Stop," the song used by former President Clinton at his campaign events. The song says, "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow."
10:05 p.m. -- Coakley: "You don’t always win all the time but you put in your best efforts because sometimes it’s more important to travel hopefully than to arrive. And we will continue to travel hopefully, I know that."
10:01 p.m. -- Coakley: "OK, so this is the deal: Although our campaign ends tonight, we know that our mission continues and our work goes on. I am heartbroken at the result and I know that you are also but I know that you will get up together and continue this fight even with this result tonight. There will be plenty of Wednesday morning quarterbacking about what went right, what went wrong and I know everyone – including me – will be brutally honest."
9:59 p.m. -- Coakley talks about her husband joining her recently on the campaign trail. "There are at least two dogs who are very happy about these results because we're going to be back with them."
9:56 p.m. -- Coakley has taken the stage, thanks supporters. "I will not forget the fierce determination with which we approached this."
9:52 p.m. -- Senate President Therese Murray is addressing Coakley supporters. We are living in difficult times. People are uncertain about the economy and health care, where we’re all headed. Martha Coakley understood that and no matter what came her way in this campaign, she stood up for what was true and what was right.
9:47 p.m. -- Chants at the Brown victory party: "Obamacare is dead," "Shock the world," and "Yes, we can."
9:46 p.m. -- “Tonight, Scott Brown made history by exceeding all expectations and defeating Martha Coakley in the heart of the Democrat Party’s political stronghold," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
9:44 p.m. -- "It goes without saying that we are disappointed in tonight's result. There will be plenty of time to dissect this race and to apply the lessons learned from it ... we will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of the America people and we will redouble our efforts to lay out a clear choice for voters this November" -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.
9:38 p.m. -- “I have no interest in sugar coating what happened in Massachusetts. There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient" -- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez.
“In the days ahead, we will sort through the lessons of Massachusetts: the need to redouble our efforts on the economy, the need to show that our commitment to real change is as powerful as it was in 2008, and the reality that we cannot take a single thing for granted and cannot afford even a second of complacency."
9:13 p.m. -- Coakley has conceded in a call to Scott Brown, according to a Brown aide.
9:09 p.m. -- At least Coakley won her hometown of North Adams, 2,854-965.
9:07 p.m. -- Bad news for Coakley from Woburn: The Brown margin there is wider than the margin for Romney against O'Brien in 2002. More bad news from Fall River, a traditional Democratic stronghold: Coakley wins there but with several thousand fewer votes than in 2002 and 2006.
8:45 p.m. -- A bad omen for Coakley in Boston's western suburbs? Take the town of Ashland, where Brown won 3,467-2,897. That's a turnaround from Democratic Governor Deval Patrick's 3,118-2,329 victory over Kerry Healey in 2006. And similar to Republican Governor Mitt Romney's 3,734-2,295 win over Shannon O'Brien in 2002.
8:33 p.m. -- Brown maintains early lead, 52 percent to 47 percent, with 8 percent of precincts reporting.
8:28 p.m. -- “The discussion outside is worrisome,” said State Representative Peter J. Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat who was at the Coakley party. But Koutoujian said he had been making phone calls for Coakley earlier in the day and the positive response he had gotten “made me feel better about Martha’s pending victory.”
8:24 p.m. -- Brown jumps to an early lead, 52 percent to 47 percent, but that's just with 4 percent of precincts reporting.
8:22 p.m. -- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is expecting Brown to win. "He did what I couldn't do. It looks like he's going to win a seat for Massachusetts in the US Senate, and I congratulate him. He's been a strong candidate, run a good campaign, and he has made it very clear that the arrogance in Washington is being rejected by the people of Massachusetts and across the country."
8:14 p.m. -- The mood at the Coakley party is subdued. A few dozen people are snacking on hors d'oeuvres and checking their Blackberries.
8:10 p.m. -- At Coakley’s party in a giant ballroom at Sheraton Boston Hotel, the stage is draped with a huge American flag, Coakley’s name is projected on one wall, and Blue Soul, a rhythm-and-blues band, is playing. Aides said Coakley is in a room at the downtown hotel, awaiting results from the election.
8:07 p.m. -- The mood is upbeat in the packed ballroom where Brown supporters are gathering, with red, white, and blue balloons poised for a triumphant balloon drop in nets on the ceiling. At one table, Brown's daughter, Ayla, a former American Idol contestant, is expected to sign CDs.
8:03 p.m. -- At the Park Plaza ballroom where Brown supporters are gathering, senior Brown adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told NECN that the turning point for Brown was the Dec. 30 "JFK ad" which put the campaign on the map. "After that, it was like riding a rocket ship for 2 ½ to 3 weeks till today," he said.
8:01 p.m. -- Polls are closing around the state in the extraordinary race for US Senate featuring Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley. It's all over but the counting.
7:57 p.m. -- Galvin estimates turnout could hit the same number as turnout in the 2006 gubernatorial campaign between Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey: 57 or 58 percent.
7:51 p.m. -- With polls closing in just a few minutes, Secretary of State William Galvin says turnout is "high everywhere" in the too-close-to-call special election for US Senate
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