The results from this historic election are in — now it’s time to talk about them. Join us today at at 1pm for a live discussion with NPR’s Ken Rudin, Dick Meyer and Beth Donovan about the results, and to ask your questions.
New England’s last Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives has been voted out of office. Connecticut’s Christopher Shays, a 21 year incumbent, was defeated today by Democrat Jim Himes in his bid for re-election.
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Demetrius Atsalis, Dem, elected State House, 2nd Barnstable, Massachusetts.
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People caught with an ounce or less of marijuana won’t be considered criminals in Massachusetts.
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Massachusetts voters have approved a ban on greyhound racing.
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Representative Barney Frank discusses his recent victory with WBUR’s host Bob Oakes.
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WBUR’s Fred Thys spoke with host Bob Oakes about the voting scene in New Hampshire.
Massachusetts voters have rejected a call to eliminate the state’s income tax.
The measure would have cut the 5.3 percent tax rate in half in January, and then killed it completely in January 2010.
Supporters argued the best way to cut government waste and overspending was to cut tax revenues by 40 percent or about $12.5 billion. They said it would have saved the average taxpayer about $3,700.
But critics, including virtually every elected officials in the state, said the cuts would cripple state services, drive up property taxes, harm the state’s credit rating and scare away business.
Gov. Deval Patrick and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate never said how they would have dealt with the loss of revenue.
Lawmakers would have had the option of repealing or amending the measure.
WBUR’s Curt Nickisch is in the field reporting on Question One opponents.
Massachusetts showed its true-blue colors Tuesday by rejecting Republican and third-party challengers and re-electing all the Democratic members of Congress seeking new terms.
Sen. John Kerry headlined the list, defeating former Army Delta Force member Jeff Beatty to win a fifth six-year term. Winning another two years in the House were Reps. John Olver, Barney Frank, John Tierney and Edward Markey.
“I am humbled to receive the support of voters from Williamstown to Provincetown and every city and town in between, and I promise to continue to prove worthy of your confidence in me over the next six years,” Kerry said in a statement issued before he addressed supporters at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.
Kerry’s support for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, who also won Massachusetts, has prompted speculation he might be tapped for a Cabinet job should Obama win nationally, but Kerry tried to tamp that down in his remarks.
“I have always been honored to represent the people of Massachusetts, and I can’t wait to return to Washington with my friend Ted Kennedy by my side and continue to deliver for you and your families,” he said, alluding to Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is suffering from brain cancer.
Beatty, a Republican, hinted to supporters that he would run again if either Kerry left office or Kennedy were unable to complete his term in 2012.
“Tonight over a million people in Massachusetts joined you in saying we want to start heading off in a new direction,” Beatty told a crowd at a Westborough hotel. “We’ve seen the coming-out party, really, of a movement that represents what I think are the beliefs and values of a majority of out citizens. It’s just our job now to go out and reach them.”
The six other House members had no challengers, and Kennedy was not up for re-election.
One of the most vocal challenges came to Frank, who had two opponents: Republican Earl Sholley of Norfolk and Democrat-turned-independent Susan Allen of Brookline.
Allen accused Frank of not standing up to the Bush administration. Sholley said the House Financial Services Committee chairman was architect of the nation’s housing crash and financial meltdown.
Olver was challenged by an Iraqi war veteran, Republican Nathan Bech, while Tierney’s opponent was Republican Richard Baker of West Newbury and Markey’s was John Cunningham of Revere, a self-professed libertarian running under the GOP banner.
Dana Bash on CNN just described John McCain as “realistic.” Code word, or American Lit preference?
Now David Axelrod is on CNN “looking forward” to the Western vote. Wolf Blitzer, on the other hand, is looking forward to hearing from Barack and Michelle Obama. Axelrod says be patient. After all, they’ve waited 22 months — what’s a couple of more hours?
Is anybody off-script tonight?
Fox News Channel is running results under an ad for Aleve, then one for Budweiser. Now Brit Hume is back. He looks like he could use both.
One other thing — is it just me, or is it wrong for Chris Matthews to keep referring to Obama as “Barack?” Is there no end to this guy’s man crush ?
John Carroll is a WBUR’s senior media analyst. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
That won’t be the headline in any newspaper tomorrow, but, in reporting what happened to McCain, it pretty much sums up the story. McCain was leading in polls in mid-September, then the financial crisis struck, the domestic and global economy tanked, and McCain fell behind Obama — never to recover. “What if?” seems a less constructive question when applied to the past than the future, but in any analysis of what went wrong with McCain (picking Palin, suspending his campaign, not doing especially well in debate, etc.) the number one answer has to be James Carville’s motto, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Obama supporters won’t like that answer — they like to give full credit to Obama and he did indeed run an extraordinary campaign, but…”what if” the financial crisis hadn’t struck? Anyone want to write an alternate sci-fi novel about President John McCain?
Todd Domke is a WBUR political analyst and a columnist for the Boston Globe. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
If the early network projections of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire for Obama hold up, McCain would need to pull off some surprises — winning states that Kerry won in 2004 – to get to the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. Actually, McCain would need victories that would even be surprising to his most optimistic staffers. This looks like an early evening, as far as suspense about the presidential race goes.
Todd Domke is a WBUR political analyst and a columnist for the Boston Globe. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
Democrat Jeanne Shaheen has defeated Republican Sen. John Sununu to become the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from New Hamsphire.
Shaheen, who also was the first woman elected governor of New Hampshire, will be its first Democratic senator in more than 30 years.
She defeated Sununu in a bitter rematch in which the candidates stayed the same, but nearly everything else changed.
After losing to Sununu in 2002, Shaheen benefited this time from demographic trends favoring Democrats and her efforts to link Sununu to the unpopular Bush adminstration.
Sununu’s loss - his first ever - hands Democrats hoping for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate a seat they have been salivating over for more than a year.
Related Story: John Kerry Wins Senate Race
Democrat Barack Obama has won New Hampshire, the state where he suffered a humbling loss on his way to the nomination.
Obama defeated Republican John McCain on Tuesday to claim the state’s four electoral votes.
Obama lost the state’s Democratic primary in January despite leading in polls. For McCain, Tuesday’s loss was his first in a state that twice had launched him toward the GOP nomination.
Exit polls show that many more voters have been contacted in recent weeks by the Obama campaign than by McCain’s. The Obama field organization has huge numbers of volunteers, and they’ve effectively used digital technology to reach and organize supporters, but money can help immensely. In 2004 the Bush campaign was more effective than Kerry’s in Get Out The Vote operations, in their much-praised 72-hour final push. The advantage this time, though, is clearly Obama’s.
Todd Domke is a WBUR political analyst and a columnist for the Boston Globe. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
Here is a list of uncontested U.S. House races in Massachusetts.
U.S. House - District 2
Richard Neal (i), Dem
U.S. House - District 3
Jim McGovern (i), Dem
U.S. House - District 5
Niki Tsongas (i), Dem
U.S. House - District 8
Mike Capuano (i), Dem
U.S. House - District 9
Stephen Lynch (i), Dem
U.S. House - District 10
Bill Delahunt (i), Dem
First time voters comprise 11% of those turning out today. 17% of voters are between the age of 18 and 29. With Obama favored by large margins with young and first-time voters, those are good numbers for the Democrat. 13% of those voting are African-American, up from 11% four years ago. With Obama winning 96% of African-Americans that too provides an important increase over 2004.
Todd Domke is a WBUR political analyst and a columnist for the Boston Globe. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
Things looking good for Obama. although VA is surprise. But need to see some No VA results esp DC suburbs.
Dan Payne is a WBUR political analyst and a columnist for the Boston Globe. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
Amid a sizable turnout Tuesday, the Bay State picked Obama over his Republican rival, John McCain.
Obama enjoyed the strong support of Gov. Deval Patrick, the state’s first Democratic chief executive in 16 years.
Massachusetts voters turned out for Democrat Barack Obama across gender, education and income divides, with Republican John McCain pulling even or ahead among pockets of wealthier and conservative voters, according to preliminary Associated Press exit polls results.
SMART SUPPORT: The more highly educated the voter, the more likely they were to back Obama, who drew his strongest support among those with college or postgraduate degrees. The split with McCain was narrower among voters with associate degrees or some college experience.
SALARY SPLIT: Obama also drew wider support among lower income voters, picking up a significant margin of those earning less than $50,000, while the margin narrowed with McCain among voters making more than $100,000.
YOUTH VOTE: Obama’s pitch to the young appeared to be paying big dividends, with voters between the ages of 18 and 29 flocking to him by wide margins. The margin narrowed significantly among voters between 45 and 64.
IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDE: The one bright spot for McCain was among conservative voters who broke his way in large numbers, but Obama more than made up the difference, picking up a larger swath of liberals and topping McCain among moderate voters.
HEALTH/TERROR WORRIES: Most voters said they were very or somewhat worried about not being able to afford health care. Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, a majority also said they were very or somewhat worried there will be another major terror attack on the country.
WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov speaks with local Obama supporters.
Senator John Kerry easily won re-election just four years after he fell short in his bid for the presidency.
The Massachusetts Democrat on Tuesday beat a fellow veteran, Republican Jeff Beatty, in his first campaign since failing as his party’s 2004 White House nominee.
Kerry won another six-year term after tamping down questions about whether he would take an administration role if fellow Democrat Barack Obama wins the presidency.
Kerry has been mentioned as a potential secretary of state or defense secretary.
The senator came into the general election after beating Edward O’Reilly in September, the first time Kerry faced a primary challenger since first winning his seat in 1984.
WBUR’s Meghna Chakrabarti joined host Bob Oakes during the 7 p.m. special broadcast to talk about her day at various Boston polling places.
…there is a Chris Matthews. Nowhere else to be at 7 p.m. except MSNBC with resident video savant, Mr. Tingle Up My Leg.
Matthews has been dying to call this race for, oh, five months — or since Barack Obama got the Democratic nomination. Last night he wasn’t exactly predicting an Obama victory, just saying he’d win by eight.
There is a difference. Honest.
So here we are at the Witching Hour… finally… and… Chris… says… look at Indiana. The fact that Hoosier country is too close to call means the Republicans will probably lose Ohio and probably lose Pennsylvania.
So, presumably, that includes McCain.
John Carroll is a WBUR’s senior media analyst. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
All signs point to an Electoral College victory for Obama.
As nominee of the “out party,” Obama benefited from the financial crisis and economic downturn. He benefited by being the anti-Bush — opposite of the unpopular president in nearly every way.
Any Democrat would probably have won, but Obama waged a great campaign and has set a new standard for oratory, organizing, fundraising, and staying on message.
We can expect to see unprecedented euphoria and celebration by Obama supporters here in the United States as well as in other countries.
We’ll see the opposite in the GOP. I predict that misery on the Republican side will quickly turn to recriminations and soul-searching. The question is: Will the GOP realize that it needs to reinvent itself?
The GOP must become a true reform party by offering not just opposition to the Obama-Reid-Pelosi agenda, but also by presenting clear and constructive alternatives.
The party needs to reach out to young, African-American, Hispanic and female voters. If we are seen as the party of grumpy, old men — rural and small town or, more precisely, affluent white men — we’ll continue to decline.
McCain wasn’t the greatest candidate, but he had the lead for a while; he was seen as independent-minded. Will the GOP recognize that its future depends on attracting more of the independent-minded?
Todd Domke is a WBUR political analyst and a columnist for the Boston Globe. He’ll be live blogging throughout the evening.
I spoke with Mass. Secretary of State Bill Galvin about 4:15 p.m. to get a sense of the turnout statewide. He says turnout has been heavy throughout the day and throughout the state, and it looks as if his prediction of more than three million voters will hold up.
In Boston alone, 110,000 voters had cast their ballots by noontime, compared to 93,000 four years ago.
As for the polling problems in Cambridge, Galvin told me the problem was generated by the Cambridge Election Commission when they had problems with their list.
Representatives of Galvin’s office were dispatched to Cambridge to rectify the problem. The list has since been corrected, and Galvin says the few people who were affected can be confident their vote will count.
Galvin acknowledged there have been long lines, but they haven’t been too bad, saying: “We had lines this morning, when we had people going to work, and trying to work before they did. We perhaps will have lines this evening.
“But throughout much of the area, as the day progressed, the lines diminished. All the polling places were busy, but there were not long delays.” Anyone who is in line when the polls close at 8:00 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.
Galvin has overseen Massachusetts’ elections for about 20 years. He says this year, there’s a sense of excitement, as well as a sense of importance.
He added that people recognize the crossroads the country is at, and cognizant of the financial problems of the country, so therefore view voting as a significant choice that affects them personally.
Related story: Massachusetts Voters Turn Out In Big Numbers
Voter turnout in Massachusetts mirrors turnout around the country; it is heavy. More than three million people are expected to cast ballots in the Bay State.
Long lines greeted many voters who turned out early.
Shella Vaytee-Eck of Roslindale didn’t mind the wait.
“I’m about to lose my job in a month, so it’s time for a change, I’ve had enough,” Vaytee-Eck says. “Usually there’s never a line. I mean, and when you think about it, it should be like this every election, there should always be lines, every election. I’m glad it’s a big line today.”
Nineteen-year-old Christian Arroyo was voting in his first election today. “We’re at a critical pivot point. Every single vote counts this year,” Arroyo says. “And I really want to make sure that regardless of whether or not my vote would have made a difference for this state, I know it would make a difference overall.”
Polls in Massachusetts close at 8 p.m.
Share your voting experience with WBUR.
To find your polling location, visit the Massachusetts secretary of state’s election information page.
Or check out this Google Map and enter your home address.
Share your Election Day photos with WBUR on our new Flickr group: New England Votes. And leave a comment if you encounter any problems at the poll.
Photo by Enrico Fuente/Flickr.
Updated 1:11 p.m.
Many voters spent the better part of their morning in long lines at polling places across the state. More than three million Massachusetts voters are expected to cast ballots.
Voting is back to normal in Cambridge after some people discovered their names missing from lists of eligible voters.
Brian McNiff of the secretary of state’s office says the city failed to send to the printers all of their discs with pertinent voter information.
“If the problem had been at the state level, we would have been able to correct it,” McNiff says. “Cambridge had to correct it at their end which they have done. The new lists are printed and they have been distributed.”
Affected voters who did not cast provisional ballots are encouraged to return to the polls before they close at 8 p.m.
Problems voting? Long lines? Share your experience today.
We want to hear from you. Did you encounter a problem at your precinct? How long was the line? Leave a comment below or follow WBUR on Twitter and tag voting problems with #wburvote.
Long lines formed early at the Phineas Bates School in Roslindale today. (Andrea Shea/WBUR)
BOSTON — Massachusetts voters turned out in droves this morning, forming lines at polling places across the state for their chance to cast a ballot in a historic election.
Richard Smith, a 76-year-old truck mechanic from Topsfield, said the race race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama felt more intense than previous elections.
The veteran voted for McCain because he’s a “war hero.”
T.J. Hellmann called this Election Day “extra special” not just because of the presidential election but also because of the ballot questions. The 31-year-old Chelsea resident voted for Obama.
Forty-three-year-old Christine Klaehn says she voted for Obama in her Jamaica Plain district because the past eight years under a Republican administration have been “horrific.”
Secretary of State William Galvin is predicting a record turnout, with about 71 percent of eligible voters expected to vote.
Polls close at 8 p.m E.T.
Thirty years ago, when ex-New Hampshire Gov. Meldrim Thompson Jr. helped get “Live Free or Die” on state license plates, and helped usher in the “No Sales or Income Taxes” pledge, it would have been hard to find a more Republican red state than New Hampshire.
But New Hampshire is solidly purple now. Follow WBUR’s continuing coverage of Swing State New Hampshire.
Are you a New Hampshire resident? Do you agree your state is leaning Democratic these days? If so, why?
