Republican Wins Pivotal Massachusetts Senate Race

Republican Scott Brown won Tuesday in the race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat that Democrat Edward Kennedy held for nearly a half-century.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry congratulated Brown Tuesday night.

“His election, along with the election last November of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey, should send a loud and clear message that the states of this great nation will continue to reject the misguided policies coming out of Washington, D.C.,” Perry said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who’s challenging Perry in the March GOP primary, agreed that voters sent a message to Washington Tuesday.

“This historic win sends a clear message to President Obama and the Democrats in Congress. The American people, no matter whether they come from Texas or Massachusetts, are angry with the Democrats’ proposal for a government takeover of our healthcare system and the out of control spending we’ve seen in the last year,” she said.

Brown led the state’s Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in the polls going in to Tuesday’s election, but Coakley and her supporters expressed confidence at the start of the day, Tuesday.

Brown’s victory in the special election gives Senate Republicans the 41st vote they need to block legislation favored by majority Democrats and President Barack Obama.

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