Monday, November 12, 2012
If appointed, a special election would be held to fill Kerry's seat.
President Obama is considering appointing Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as the Secretary of Defense, according to the Washington Post. Cabinet changeups are standard fare at the start of a second presidential term. Kerry, who is believed to want the Secretary of State job, would replace current Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, according to the Post. If appointed, Kerry would have to resign from the Senate and a special statewide election would have to be held to fill his seat. However, appointing Kerry to either seat could have political implications — it could mean the risk of losing Kerry's Senate seat in Massachusetts to Republicans, according to the New York Times. Obama not only would have to decide whether to risk Kerry's …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Lexington Democrat Mike Barrett defeats Chelmsford Republican Sandi Martinez to claim seat long held by retiring state Sen. Susan Fargo.
While they’re saying goodbye to Susan Fargo, the Democrats aren’t ready to let go of her seat in the state Senate. Lexington Democrat Mike Barrett, after outlasting four challengers from his own party in the primary, has defeated Sandi Martinez, a Republican from Chelmsford, to claim the Third Middlesex District seat Fargo, a Lincoln Democrat, held tightly for eight terms before deciding to retire. “I’m excited about returning to the Senate,” said Barrett, who was a state Senator from Cambridge from 1987 until a failed bid for governor in 1994. “Eighteen years older, probably not 18 years wiser, but I think smarter and I’m looking forward to it.” The Third Middlesex District represents Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lincoln, …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
President Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.
President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan. NBC News called the presidential election for Obama around 11:15 EST. The president sent a message on Twitter at 10:14 saying simply, "This happened because of you. Thank you." The Obama campaign won the most expensive presidential race ever, with both parties raising about $2.6 billion. The race was filled with negative campaigning on both sides, from President Obama attacking Romney’s business experience with Bain Capital to Romney lambasting Obama’s handling of the economy. The race tightened during the final months of the campaign, with gaffes and surges …
With more than half of all precincts reporting, Niki Tsongas has earned more than twice the votes of her challenger, Jon Golnik, to gain another two years in Washington.
Niki Tsongas represented the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District for five years, and now she’ll get a chance to represent the Third. After Massachusetts lost a Congressional seat following the 2010 U.S. Census, Tsongas defeated challenger Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) in the first election for the new Massachusetts Third District. Retaining much of the old district, Tsongas finds herself losing constituents in certain towns like Tewksbury and Wayland, but gaining a large swath of new towns in the Fitchburg area in an area that stretches from Marlborough to the Lawrence area. Likewise, the Golnik campaign also hoped that the change in the district’s borders could help change the dynamic from 2010, where Golnik lost to Tsongas by 12 points…
Ed Markey will maintain his seat in Congress.
Democrat U.S. Congressman Ed Markey will serve a 19th term in Washington. Markey led Republican challenger Tom Tierney 75 percent to 25 percent with 41 percent of precincts reporting, according to Boston.com, which had called the race by 9:45 p.m. Markey's seat has traditionally been for the 7th District of Massachusetts, but that changed with redistricting last year. Markey's new district is the 5th, and it added a sliver of Cambridge, previously represented by Michael Capuano, as well as the western towns of Southborough, Ashland, Holliston, Sherborn, and a large portion of Sudbury. Markey also lost the city of Everett. Despite the district changes, Markey faced little difficulty in this year's election. He received $457,200 in campaign …
Democrat Elizabeth Warren beat incumbent candidate Scott Brown in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.
Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren has beaten incumbent Republican candidate Scott Brown for a seat on the U.S. Senate, according to the Associated Press. Warren is won by a margin of eight percentage points, 54 percent to 46 percent, making her the first female senator elected in Massachusetts. An estatic Warren addressed a crowd of hundreds of excited supporters at the Copley Fairmont Plaza hotel in Boston on Tuesday night. "We did what everyone thought was impossible," she said. "We taught a scrappy, first-time candidate how to win." "You took on the powerful Wall Street banks and let them know that you want a Senator out there fighting for the middle class all of the time," she said. "And despite the odds, you elected the first …
A majority of voters in Massachusetts on Tuesday cast their ballot for Barack Obama, giving him the state's 11 Electoral votes.
Barack Obama won Massachusetts' 11 electoral votes on Tuesday, defeating Republican Mitt Romney. In the 2008 presidential election, the state voted for the Democratic candidate, and since the 1990s has voted for the overall winner of the presidential race 3 out of 5 times. Shortly after 8 p.m., the AP called Massachusetts for Obama, along with with six other east coast states and the District of Columbia. Romney and Obama did not campaign aggressively in Massachusetts. The state has typically been a Democratic stronghold in recent presidential elections. The economy was a key issue for many voters in the state, as was the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare. Romney cast his ballot this morning in his hometown of Belmont, …
What's it like when the potential next leader of the free world votes in your town? Patch sent three editors to find out.
How do you start the most important day in your life? If you're Mitt Romney, you come back to your home town to vote. Belmont will witness one of the rarest sites in America: A presidential candidate voting on election day. Join Patch as we live tweet from inside and outside the Beech Street Center in Belmont. Editors will capture the scene with tweets, photos, video and more. From broadcast news trucks to local media to protesters to residents just looking to get to Dunks, the scene should provide a colorful start to election day. ___ Late Update, 10:27 a.m.: Check out Belmont Editor Franklin Tucker's photo gallery from inside the voting station. 9:23 a.m.: "Line to vote has disappeared at Romney's polling place in Belmont," tweeted @…
How might the U.S. Senate race between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren affect the presidential race—and vice-versa? Find out what local politicos think, and check here late for election results. Connect with us on Twitter at #PatchElections.
Check back at your local Patch all day for live election updates. While Massachusetts is expected to go to Barack Obama over Mitt Romney in the race for President of the United States, influential Massachusetts political insiders have varying opinions on how the U.S. Senate race between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren will affect the presidential race, and vice versa. According to results from the Blue Commonwealth and Red Commonwealth surveys sent out last week and compiled today, Monday, 60 percent of the 23 local Republicans who responded think that the Brown-Warren race will result a modest increase in votes for Romney, while 40 percent of the 20 local Democrats who responded think the U.S. Senate race will increase Obama's total of …
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Vote in our poll by sharing your thoughts in the comments field below.
A Washington Post/ABC poll released this week showed that 80 percent of voters feel President Obama has done a good job dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – a staunch supporter of Mitt Romney – praised Obama's response to the storm, which devastated parts of New Jersey and New York and caused serious damage in many other states, including Massachusetts. Obama also received the endorsement of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday, with Bloomberg citing Obama's handling of Hurricane Sandy as one of the main reasons he decided to support the president. Meanwhile, Romney's previous pledge to abolish FEMA hasn't helped him in the wake of the storm. What do you think? Will Hurricane …
M C Stringfellow
7:16 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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