Live Results: Massachusetts Senate Special Election

Posted: 6/25/2013 11:50 am EDT | Updated: 6/26/2013 12:00 am EDT

Massachusetts is holding a special election to fill the seat previously held by John Kerry, who left to become secretary of state. U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat, is running against Republican Gabriel Gomez, a private equity executive and former Navy SEAL.

100% of precincts reporting
Markey Markey 642,988 54.8% ✓
Gomez Gomez 525,080 44.8% ✓
Polls closed at 8 p.m. EDT
Towns above the diagonal line are where Markey is doing better than the Democrat in the previous election

Compare to past Massachusetts Senate elections

2012
Warren cutout Warren
Elizabeth Warren defeated Scott Brown with 54 percent of the vote in an election for a full Senate term, putting both of Massachusetts' seats back in Democratic hands. Warren's term runs until 2019; the seat in today's special election will be up for election in 2014.
2010
Brown cutout Brown
Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley 52-47 percent in a special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat after his death. Brown was the first Republican to win a Senate seat in Massachusetts since 1972; he lost two years later when he ran against Elizabeth Warren to serve a full term.
1952
Kennedy cutout Kennedy
John F. Kennedy defeated Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., marking the start of the Kennedy family's hold on the seat. Kennedy and his brother Ted Kennedy would occupy the seat for a combined 54 of the next 56 years. Since this election, a Democrat has held at least one of the state's two Senate seats.

About the race

Kerry cutout Kerry
Current makeup
The current makeup of the U.S. Senate
52 Democrats 46 Republicans 2 Independents

John Kerry, one of Massachusetts' two senators since 1985, resigned in February to become secretary of state. Massachusetts' governor temporarily appointed Mo Cowan after Kerry was confirmed. Cowan will be replaced by the winner of today's election.

The winner will finish Kerry's term, which ends in 2015.

The U.S. Senate currently has 52 Democrats, 46 Republicans and two independents, both of whom caucus with the Democrats.

Later this year, another special election will be held to fill the seat of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who died earlier this month.

Sources: The Associated Press, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Congressional Biographical Directory.
Photos: Congressional Biographical Directory, Gabriel Gomez for Senate, White House Press Office.

By Aaron Bycoffe and Jay Boice