Mass Senate Results: Markey vs. Gomez

Impact

While technically we will wait for some results to call this race, the fact is, Gabriel Gomez, 47, will be unable to replicate Scott Brown's January 2010 upset of Martha Coakley in the special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy's seat. Every credible poll taken in this race showed Rep. Ed Markey, 66, leading, and the vast majority of them had him doing so by double digits. Although Gomez's moderate conservatism echoed the positions held by Brown, in the end, Gomez was too much of an unknown to the voting public. Whereas Brown had some name recognition by virtue of serving in the state Senate, prior to the race Gomez was unheard of, even on Beacon Hill.

Brown also had the luxury of running against an inept campaigner in Coakley, who couldn't seem to get out of her own way. But Gomez, like so many underdogs and eventual losing candidates, faced a fundraising gap. Markey raised $7.9 million for this race compared to Gomez's $3.3 million, including $900,000 of the former Navy SEAL's own money. 

Turnout in this race is reportedly low, which is no surprise considering that special elections tend to draw fewer registered voters to the polls.