Ed Markey cruises to victory as Democrats, Republicans wrest for control of Senate

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and a handful of other Senate candidates cruised to victory early on election night as Democrats and Republicans wrestled for control of the chamber well into the night.

Markey trounced Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor, closing the book on what proved to be — at least through his Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III — the toughest re-election battle of his career. The Associated Press called the race when polls closed at 8 p.m. in Massachusetts.

“Over the past 16 months we built not only a campaign, but a real grassroots movement. A movement of progressive ideals,” Markey, 74 and a four-decade veteran of Washington, told supporters via livestream. “Today, Massachusetts voted to affirm our movement’s mandate for change, and I am grateful for that.”

O’Connor, a 58-year-old Dover attorney and political newcomer, congratulated Markey on a “well-earned victory” and vowed, “You’ll certainly be seeing me again.”

Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to flip the Senate blue. In Colorado, former governor and presidential hopeful John Hickenlooper ousted Republican incumbent Cory Gardner. But later, Republican Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, defeated Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama.

Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Coons of Delaware, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and John Reed of Rhode Island were among those to retain their seats Tuesday.

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Jim Risch from Idaho were among the GOP senators to keep their seats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defeated Democrat Amy McGrath in Kentucky.

“This is no time to declare war on our institutions because one side is angry the framers made it hard to achieve radical change,” McConnell said. “This is a time to defend all we inherited and pass it on even stronger.”

Georgia’s special election is headed for a runoff, with incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock advancing, The Associated Press called after 11:15 p.m. They are projected to be the top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan free-for-all “jungle”-style election to finish out the term of former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican who resigned a year ago over health issues.

Loeffler was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily until this special election. Because no one is on track to get 50% of the vote, Warnock and Loeffler will face off in a head-to-head matchup in January.

Several hotly contested races, including four-term GOP Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ re-election fight against Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon remained uncalled late Tuesday night.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2GuNloa