2008 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

The 2008 United States Senate election in Massachusetts took place on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry, who remained in the Senate after losing the presidency to incumbent President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election, won re-election to a fifth term in office. Kerry later resigned his seat in 2013 to become Secretary of State under the Obama administration.

2008 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

← 2002 November 4, 2008 2013 (special) →

Nominee John Kerry Jeff Beatty Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,971,974 926,044 Percentage 65.86% 30.93%

County results Municipality results Precinct results Kerry:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Beatty:      40–50%      50–60%      No votes

U.S. senator before election John Kerry Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Kerry Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Kerry, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Edward O'Reilly, Gloucester city councilor

Campaign

At the state convention on June 7, 2008, Edward O'Reilly received 22.5% of the vote, thereby granting him a spot on the September primary ballot. Kerry, received the vast majority of votes, however, granting him the convention's endorsement.^[1] On July 25, O'Reilly challenged Kerry to a series of debates,^[2] and the two eventually met for one debate in early September. On September 16, Kerry defeated O'Reilly in the Democratic primary.^[3]

Results

 

Primary results by municipality

2008 United States Senate Democratic primary in Massachusetts

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry (incumbent)	335,923	68.92%
	Democratic	Edward O'Reilly	151,473	31.08%
Turnout			487,396

General election

Candidates

• Jeff Beatty (R), military officer, businessman and nominee for MA-10 in 2006^[4]
• John Kerry (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Robert Underwood (L)

Campaign

Democrat John F. Kerry, the incumbent since 1985, was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the 2004 election. He had historically attracted strong Republican challengers, including two former Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman, Ray Shamie in 1984, Jim Rappaport in 1990, and former state Governor William Weld in 1996.

Kerry had explored the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination for president once again in 2008, a circumstance which prompted many of Massachusetts's all-Democratic House delegation, including Marty Meehan, Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch, to declare that they would run in the Democratic primary for Senate should Kerry not seek reelection.^{[citation needed]} However, on January 24, 2007, Kerry announced that he would run for reelection to the United States Senate and not for the Presidency. A December 23, 2007, poll indicated his approval rating at 52%, with 43% disapproving.^[5]

Massachusetts held primary elections on September 16, 2008.^[6] Unlike in 2002, when Kerry was reelected against only third-party opposition, the Democratic nominee faced a Republican opponent in 2008. The Republican candidate, former U.S. Army Delta Force officer and FBI special agent Jeff Beatty who had lost a congressional race two years earlier, was not considered a serious contender in this overwhelmingly Democratic state. Massachusetts had not elected a Republican Senator since Edward Brooke in 1972, although Republican Scott Brown would go on to win a special Senate election in 2010.

On September 16, 2008, Kerry defeated Edward O'Reilly in the Democratic primary and faced Republican Beatty in the November general election.^[7]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[8]	Safe D	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics^[9]	Safe D	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report^[10]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics^[11]	Safe D	November 4, 2008

Polling

Source	Date	Jeff Beatty (R)	John Kerry (D)
	April 25, 2008	30%	55%
	June 1, 2008	25%	63%
	August 5, 2008	32%	59%
	September 23, 2008	30%	65%

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry (incumbent)	1,971,974	65.86%	-14.2%
	Republican	Jeff Beatty	926,044	30.93%	+30.93%
	Libertarian	Robert J. Underwood	93,713	3.13%	-15.1%
Majority			1,037,116
Turnout			2,994,247
	Democratic hold		Swing

See also

• 2008 United States Senate elections

References

General

1. Viser, Matt (June 8, 2008). "Gloucester lawyer to challenge Kerry". The Boston Globe.
2. Kerry's primary challenger proposes debates, Associated Press
3. "cbsnews.com". CBS News.
4. "CQPolitics Rates Safe Democratic Senate Races in '08". New York Times.
5. "Survey USA".
6. "Candidates guide from Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division" (PDF).
7. . ap.google.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008.
8. "2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
9. Race Ratings Chart: Senate October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics
10. "2008 Senate ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
11. "2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.

Specific

• John Kerry not running for President
• GOP ready to pounce on vulnerable poll^{[permanent dead link]}
• Senator Kerry's SurveyUSA Job Approval Ratings
• 7News/Suffolk University, Mass. Statewide Likely Voters September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Elections Division from the Massachusetts Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Massachusetts at Project Vote Smart
• from CQ Politics
• Massachusetts U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• County Results - Election Center 2008 - Elections & Politics from CNN.com

Democrats

Republicans