Elizabeth Warren took the lead in a close race last night to unseat incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass., LA '81), bringing the Massachusetts U.S. senatorial seat back to blue.
At press time, Warren took the state with 53.9 percent of the vote. Brown has held the contested seat since Feb. 4, 2010, after winning a special election over Democrat Martha Coakley for the late longtime Senator Ted Kennedy's seat.
The first female senator elected in Massachusetts, Warren is a Harvard Law Professor who has never held elected office. She is largely known for her work on consumer rights, which led to the creation of U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Warren referenced her seat's former occupant in her acceptance speech, affirming her commitment to upholding his legacy in the state.
"It was exactly 50 years ago tonight that Senator Ted Kennedy was first elected to the United States Senate," she said. "That night, 50 years ago, he said that he would dedicate all his strength and will to serve you in the United States Senate. For 47 years, he lived up to that promise. Tonight, I pledge to do the same."
Warren also referred to Brown's stated goals of uniting a bipartisan Senate as something she appreciated and wants to follow.
"We need leaders in Washington who are willing to break the partisan gridlock," she said.
Brown, for his part, conceded with the promise of future political involvement.
"I'm going to still keep working for you, don't worry," he said. "Whatever the future holds, I am a fortunate man to be where I've been."
The race, called at 9:47 p.m. by CNN, was close in part due to Brown's moderate stance relative to many Republicans. Brown was named the Senate's second-most bipartisan member of 2011, after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), by Congressional Quarterly.
"It was just disappointing in general for the future of politics," Ellie Monroe, a sophomore member of Tufts Republicans, said. "It wasn't just a loss for him, it was a loss for the moderates and the bipartisan-ness of Congress in general."
However, the Washington Post cited Brown as voting with the majority of Republicans in the Senate 80 percent of the time, and some Tufts students felt that other issues outweighed Brown's bipartisan credentials in the election.
"Scott Brown was somebody pushing for bipartisanship, but at this point in time other issues were just more important," freshman Jeramey Evans, who attended the Extravaganza, said.
The candidates differ on several issues, especially taxes and immigration. Although Brown signed the Grover Norquist anti-tax pledge, Warren is a proponent of the Buffet Rule that would impose a 30 percent tax rate on millionaires. Also, Warren is in favor of the DREAM Act, which Brown opposes. However, Brown purports to be a pro-choice candidate, and Warren has said she will not approve a Supreme Court nominee who is against abortion rights.
The close numbers heading into the election led to strong voter turnout, with early reports indicating that it would exceed the record 3.1 million Massachusetts residents who voted in the 2008 presidential election. Somerville's voter turnout was around 71 percent, Somerville Patch reported.
"The precincts we voted at for Tufts had some of the highest voter turnout in the state," Tufts Students for Elizabeth Warren Campus Coordinator Maggie Morrow, a sophomore, said.
The high turnout was reflective of the tight race, according to Associate Professor of Sociology Sarah Sobieraj.
"The incredible turnout within the state shows that people were aware of how close it was," Sobieraj, an expert in politics and media, said. "It seemed the polls varied day by day."
Warren and Brown were head-to-head in a University of Massachusetts, Lowell poll just days before the election, and the race has been a "hotbed of uncertainty," unusual for Massachusetts, according to Sobieraj. This led to an antagonistic vibe not found in most Massachusetts races, she said.
"I think it
was fairly calm towards the end, but at the beginning it was fairly heated," Sobieraj said.
Another indicator of the contest's confrontational nature was the number and force of the campaign advertisements running in the state, which Sobieraj said made Massachusetts feel like a swing state.
"I think residents were naive to that," she said.
Tufts students on both sides of the aisle had been campaigning for months, and many went into the greater Boston area yesterday to sway voters. BronwenRaff, president of Tufts Democrats and an intern for the Elizabeth Warren campaign since September, said she got an email at 1 p.m. yesterday emphasizing the closeness of the race and sent 40 canvassers to get last-minute votes.
"We'd been working all day on her campaign since 5 a.m.," Raff, a senior, said. "We were working until the last 15 minutes."
Morrow, who has been on the Warren campaign since January, said she felt the work of Tufts' 27 Warren interns paid off.
"We worked so hard for so many months," she said.
Although the race was close, the election of a Democratic senator was not unexpected considering Massachusetts' history.
"It's not a very surprising shift," Sobieraj said. "Massachusetts has a long tradition of being a blue state."
The other senator from Massachusetts, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), has held the office since 1985, and Brown's assumption of Ted Kennedy's seat was the first time it had gone to a Republican since John F. Kennedy took office in 1953.
"I think Elizabeth Warren is a return to a Ted Kennedy-type figure for the state," Sobieraj said.
Raff said she found herself crying with other Warren volunteers when Warren's victory was announced.
"The general reaction is amazing. Everyone is so excited," she said. "It was incredible."
Tufts students worked for a Warren win in ways beyond interning and canvassing.
"Everyone in my suite went insane when Warren was called, and we were all very involved in that," Walker Bristol, a junior, said. "I changed my registration from North Carolina to Massachusetts to vote for Warren."
With Warren set to take office Jan. 3, 2013, Tufts community members are looking toward her impact on students, the state and the country. Freshman Extravaganza attendee Sarah Vandewalle said she was happy to see a female senator for the state.
"I'm glad to see women Democrats coming to Congress," she said.
While Sobieraj agreed that it is always good to have women and members of other underrepresented groups in office, she felt that Warren's policies would not differ from those of her male colleagues in many areas.
"In terms of reproductive rights, because Democrats are largely pro-choice, I don't think there will be a radical difference," she said.
Raff emphasized that she anticipates Warren's election having a positive impact on Massachusetts and its communities.
"Honestly this can only bring good things," Raff said. "It means a lot for students
It means a lot for women."
