"Republican Scott Brown Wins Massachusetts Senate Special Election"
- Republican candidate Scott Brown defeated Democrat candidate Martha Coakley tonight in a Massachusetts special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate.
- With 71 percent of precincts reporting, Brown held a 53 percent to 46 percent lead over Coakley.
- Brown's victory marks the first time a Republican has won a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts since 1972.
- While it is a historic win in Massachusetts, Brown's victory has even more critical implications for the national political scene.
- Brown will give Republicans a 41st seat in the Senate, which allows them to block passage of the healthcare reform bill and any other legislation that they stand united against.
- Democrats have already been meeting to ponder other ways to pass health reform. Options include passing the bill before Brown is seated, or having the House pass the Senate bill outright without compromise, which would send it straight to Obama to sign.
- Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/us/politics/20election.html?hp
In other related news, President Obama has set his State of the Union speech for Wednesday, January 27. Democrats still hope to have a bill in time for the speech, but the results of the Massachusetts election could change that.
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