Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Martha Coakley wins Democratic primary in Massachusetts for U.S. Senate

A standard bearer to succeed Ted Kennedy has been chosen:
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has won the Democratic nomination in the special election for Senate -- close to a win in the general election itself, in this Democratic state, in the race to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

With 94% of precincts reporting, Coakley has 47%, well ahead of her nearest opponent, Rep. Mike Capuano, with 28%. Coakley will face Republican state Sen. Scott Brown in the general election, which will be held on January 19, and in which the Democratic candidate will be heavily favored.
Although there are certainly Democrats in Massachusetts who would have happily voted for another Kennedy to succeed Teddy, no one from the family wished to be a candidate. Vicki made it known months ago she had no interest, and Joe Kennedy likewise opted out of the race, though he had both name recognition and $2 million in leftover campaign funds.

Although Coakley won an overwhelming victory in the primary today, she doesn't have time to slow down and enjoy her win. The special election is a little over a month away, and she ought to hit the campaign trail starting tomorrow if she wants to beat the Republican nominee, Scott Brown, by an equally impressive margin.

Washingtonians know what it's like to have a short turnaround between a primary and a general election. Our primary used to be in mid-September, like Massachusetts' normally is,, before we moved it to late August.

A late primary leaves only a few weeks between the two elections... not much time for the finalists to mount their campaigns. Even so, plenty can happen in a few weeks. Martha Coakley shouldn't take this special election for granted.

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