John Ruch
Will join Libertarian on ballot
Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley won their respective parties’ primary elections in the US Senate race on Dec. 8. They will join Libertarian candidate Joseph L. Kennedy, who is running as an independent, on the final election ballot on Jan. 19.
The election is a special one arranged to replace US Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died in office earlier this year. Joseph L. Kennedy is no relation to the famous Kennedy political family, which issued a statement endorsing Coakley.
Brown is currently a state senator. Coakley is currently the state attorney general. Joseph L. Kennedy works in the financial industry.
Coakley is considered the front-runner because Massachusetts politics are generally liberal and the majority of voters registered with a political party are Democrats.
Paul Kirk is serving as the interim US senator in the office. Kirk is not running for the seat.
Primary election turnout in Boston was around 19 percent. Democratic candidate US Rep. Mike Capuano, who represents Jamaica Plain in Congress, beat Coakley in Boston by under 2,000 votes, according to the Boston Election Department.
For more information on the candidates, see their web sites at BrownForUSSenate.com, MarthaCoakley.com and JoeKennedyForSenate.com.
All states have two senators in Congress. The other Massachusetts senator is John Kerry.