Congressman Ed Markey and his wife cast their ballots in the special senate election June 25 at their polling place in Malden.
Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki/METRO
Democratic Congressman Ed Markey has a new title: Senator Markey.
The long-time Malden representative beat out his Republican challenger Gabriel Gomez by a tally of 55 percent to 45 percent with98 percent of the precincts reporting, according to the Globe.
Markey replaces former senator John Kerry who left his post when President Barack Obama called on him to become secretary of state. Markey will now be the state’s junior senator after Sen. Elizabeth Warren was elected in November.
“Thank you Massachusetts! I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve you in the United States Senate,” Markey posted on Twitter shortly after news outlets called the race for him just after 9: 15 p.m.
Gomez, a former Navy SEAL and businessman, conceded the race from his election night party at the Seaport Boston Hotel. He said his campaign was “massively outspent.”
“We can be proud of what we accomplished, literally starting from scratch five months ago,” Gomez told the crowd. “We were up against literally the whole national democratic party … and the machine, but in the face of this great adversity we could not have fought a better fight.”
Obama traveled to Massachusetts to help campaign for Markey. Gomez had his own backup when Sen. John McCain also made a trip to the Bay State to lend support.
Secretary of State Bill Galvin said earlier this week that he expected record low turnout for the special election, according to the State House News Service, with the recent heat wave keeping potential voters indoors.
Interim Sen. Mo Cowan is currently occupying the seat after he was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick when Kerry left.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
