Republican Scott Brown has won a shock victory in the race for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts left vacant by Democrat Edward Kennedy’s death.<\/p>\n
The result is a huge blow to President Barack Obama, whose healthcare reform programme is now in doubt.<\/p>\n
Democrat Martha Coakley conceded she had lost the race after early results gave Mr Brown a healthy lead.<\/p>\n
The Republican win has robbed the Democrats of their filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate.<\/p>\n
This will make it much harder for Mr Obama to pass a healthcare reform bill – the most important domestic policy objective of his first year as president.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Paul Adams, in Boston, says Ms Coakley’s defeat is a humiliating blow for the Democrats and their agenda, and a deeply unwelcome anniversary present for President Obama a year after his inauguration.<\/p>\n
He adds that it is one of the biggest political upsets in years, and a devastating blow for the Democrats in a seat held for almost half a century by Edward Kennedy, a colossus of the party.<\/p>\n
‘Senator Beefcake’<\/strong><\/p>\n In his victory speech, Mr Brown, 50, said that the voters of Massachusetts had “delivered a great victory”.<\/p>\n He said: “Tonight, the independent voice of Massachusetts has spoken. The voters of this commonwealth defied the odds and the experts.”<\/p>\n He also made it clear he would join his Republican colleagues in trying to block President Obama’s healthcare reform proposals.<\/p>\n Dubbed Senator Beefcake in the US media, Mr Brown is a lawyer and former model who posed almost naked for Cosmopolitan magazine in the 1980s while in law school.<\/p>\n After conceding the election in a telephone call to Mr Brown, Ms Coakley told her supporters she was “heartbroken at the result”.<\/p>\n Mr Obama had campaigned personally on behalf of Ms Coakley.<\/p>\n Analysts say the race should have been an easy win for her in a state which traditionally has voted for Democratic candidates for the US Senate.<\/p>\n Just weeks ago, Ms Coakley, the state attorney general, had a double-digit lead in polls and seemed destined to win.<\/p>\n Lacklustre campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n But a lacklustre campaign allowed her Republican opponent – with vigorous support from conservative activists – to seize on voter discontent and overtake her in the final stretch.<\/p>\n Voters flocked to the polls through the snow and rain that fell all day on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Ms Coakley said she had received a telephone call from President Obama, who had told her: “We can’t win them all.”<\/p>\n White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Obama had called Mr Brown to congratulate him and to tell him he was looking forward to working with him.<\/p>\n Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would welcome Mr Brown to the Senate.<\/p>\n He added that senators “will move to seat him as soon as the proper paperwork has been received” from Massachusetts officials.<\/p>\n Analysts say that with opinion polls showing nearly half of all Americans think President Obama is not delivering on his major campaign promises, the Massachusetts race could be seen as a referendum on his first year in office.<\/p>\n The vote may not bode well for the Democrats ahead of November’s congressional elections.<\/p>\n Correspondents say if they cannot hang on to a party stronghold such as Massachusetts they could be vulnerable almost anywhere.<\/p>\n The result was the third major loss for Democrats in state-wide elections since Obama became president: Republicans won governors’ seats in Virginia and New Jersey in November.<\/p>\n President Obama has made health care his main domestic issue, seeking to revamp an expensive system that leaves nearly 50 million people uninsured.<\/p>\n Republicans have almost unanimously opposed his plans, saying it would lead to higher taxes and government meddling in healthcare decisions.<\/p>\n BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n