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One special election down, one to go




No surprises in Massachusetts as former US Representative Ed Markey held off Navy Seal Gabriel Gomez by 10 percentage points.  Markey had the money and the clout to withstand the challenge.  The GOP offered little support for Gomez, who distanced himself from the Tea Party in presenting himself as a moderate in favor of gun control and supporting the Affordable Care Act and pending Immigration bill.  But, in most other respects Gomez was thoroughly Republican.

Scott Brown is now seen as  a "blip on the radar screen."  Remember when Republicans were so excited about his "surprise victory," hailing him as the 41st Senator in an effort to derail the ACA.

The surprise to me is that over 50 per cent of Bay State voters don't identify themselves with either party, although these so-called Independents tend to lean Democrat in Massachusetts.  This is well above the national average.  Seems fewer and fewer persons want to identify themselves with one party or the other.

Next up for the Democrats, the vacant Senate seat in New Jersey.

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