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Recursion

(56,582 posts)
Tue Apr 30, 2013, 02:25 PM Apr 2013

5 things to watch today in Mass. Senate primary

http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/04/30/massachusetts-senate-primary-markey-kerry/2123307/

This is Election Day in Massachusetts, where Democrats and Republicans will be choosing their nominees for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Democrats Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch and Republicans Dan Winslow, Gabriel Gomez and Mike Sullivan are on the ballot. Here are five things to watch:

...

Turnout: Just how many votes will be cast in the primaries? Secretary of State William Galvin said his "best guess" was about 550,000 voters will take part in the Democratic primary vs. 200,000 voters on the Republican side. That's way down from the Democratic turnout in the 2009 primaries after Kennedy died, when 669,000 people voted.

Ed Markey's vote: The liberal Democratic congressman is favored to win the party's nomination over Lynch, a conservative. Markey is now in his 19th term in Congress and is known for his work on energy, environment and telecom issues and fight to protect funding for PBS. A recent poll by Western New England University and MassLive.com showed Markey comfortably leading Lynch for the Democratic nomination. Lynch's own internal poll shows a closer race. Given the overwhelmingly blue tint of Massachusetts, if Markey does win the Democratic nod his final vote total could say something about his strength going into the second round of balloting.
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