United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2008

United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2008

2002 ← November 4, 2008 → 2014

Nominee John Kerry Jeff Beatty Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,959,843 922,727 Percentage 65.8% 31.0%

County results

U.S. Senator before election John Kerry Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Kerry Democratic

The 2008 United States Senate election in Massachusetts took place on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry won re-election to a fifth term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Kerry, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Edward O'Reilly, Gloucester city councilor.

Campaign

At the 2008-06-07 state convention, Edward O'Reilly received 22.5% of the vote, thereby granting him a spot on the September primary ballot. Kerry, received the vast majority of votes, however, granting him the convention's endorsement.^[1] On 2008-07-25, O'Reilly challenged Kerry to a series of debates,^[2] and the two eventually met for one debate in early September. On September 16, 2008, Kerry defeated O'Reilly in the Democratic primary.^[3]

Results

2008 United States Senate Democratic primary in Massachusetts
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry	335,923	68.92
	Democratic	Edward O'Reilly	151,473	31.08
Turnout			487,396

General election

Candidates

• Jeff Beatty (R), President of Total Security, and failed 2006 congressional candidate^[4]
• John Kerry (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Robert Underwood (L)

Campaign

Democrat John F. Kerry, the incumbent since 1985, was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the 2004 election. He has historically attracted strong Republican challengers, including two former Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman, Ray Shamie in 1984 and Jim Rappaport in 1990, and former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld in 1996.

Kerry had explored the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination for President once again in 2008, a circumstance which prompted many of Massachusetts's all-Democratic House delegation, including Marty Meehan, Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch, to declare that they would run in the Democratic primary for Senate should Kerry not seek reelection. However, on January 24, 2007, Kerry announced that he would run for reelection to the United States Senate and not for the Presidency. A December 23, 2007, poll indicated his approval rating at 52%, with 43% disapproving.^[5]

Massachusetts held primary elections on September 16, 2008.^[6] Unlike in 2002, when Kerry was reelected against only third-party opposition, the Democratic nominee faced a Republican opponent in 2008. The Republican candidate, businessman Jeff Beatty who had lost a congressional race two years earlier, was not considered a serious contender in this overwhelmingly Democratic state. Massachusetts had not elected a Republican Senator since Edward Brooke in 1972 and has not sent any Republicans to Congress since incumbents Peter Torkildsen and Peter Blute were defeated in 1996.

On September 16, 2008, Kerry defeated Edward O'Reilly in the Democratic primary and faced Republican Beatty in the November general election.^[7]

Polling

Source	Date	Beatty (R)	Kerry (D)
Rasmussen Reports	September 23, 2008	30%	65%
	August 5, 2008	32%	59%
	June 1, 2008	25%	63%
	April 25, 2008	30%	55%

Results

Results by city and town

General election results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry	1,959,843	65.82	-14.2
	Republican	Jeff Beatty	922,727	30.99	n/a
	Libertarian	Robert J. Underwood	94,727	3.18	-15.1
Majority			1,037,116
Turnout			2,977,631
	Democratic hold		Swing

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2008

References

1. ^ Boston.com
2. ^ Kerry's primary challenger proposes debates, Associated Press
3. ^ cbsnews.com
4. ^ CQPolitics Rates Safe Democratic Senate Races in ’08 - New York Times
5. ^ Survey USA
6. ^ Candidates guide from Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division
7. ^ ap.google.com, John Kerry bests 1st primary opponent in 24 years

• John Kerry not running for President
• GOP ready to pounce on vulnerable poll
• Senator Kerry's SurveyUSA Job Approval Ratings
• 7News/Suffolk University, Mass. Statewide Likely Voters

External links

• Elections Division from the Massachusetts Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Massachusetts at Project Vote Smart
• Massachusetts U.S. Senate from CQ Politics
• Massachusetts U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• Massachusetts U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets.org
• Beatty (R) vs Kerry (D-i) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• [1]

Democrats

• John Kerry official campaign site
• Ed O'Reilly official campaign site

Republicans

• Jeff Beatty official campaign site
• Jim Ogonowski official campaign site
• Kevin Scott for Senate