Polls have just closed in Massachusetts, where voters are selecting a replacement for John Kerry, who became Secretary of State earlier this year. The race is between Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, who has led in all public polling, and Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez.
Results: AP (statewide) | AP (by town) | Boston Globe
5:07 PM PT: Here's a bit of good news to start the night: Democrat James Kay has won a special election in Kentucky's 56th State House District, defeating Republican Lyen Crews 44-34, despite former Democrat John-Mark Hack taking 22 percent as an independent. This represents an important hold for Democrats, who are fighting to hang on to their majority in the chamber.
5:07 PM PT: The first trickle of votes is now showing up.
5:15 PM PT: Huffington Post also has a very cool page that not only offers an interactive map, but plots results on a town-by-town basis in comparison to other recent MA-Sen elections, including Brown vs. Warren and Brown vs. Coakley.
5:19 PM PT: The first sizable chunk of votes has come in (3% of precincts total), putting Gomez up 51-48. But don't fret: Markey's still performing better than Coakley, and, for the most part, better than Warren, too.
5:24 PM PT: Up to 8% reporting now. Gomez still ahead 52-48.
5:33 PM PT: We're now at 17%, with Gomez up 52-47.
5:36 PM PT: Now it's 53-47 with 24% in, but Markey is still performing about 7 points better than Martha Coakley. So if trends hold, he'd wind up with about 54-55% of the vote.
5:42 PM PT: That's more like it: 28% reporting and it's down to 50.6 Gomez, 49 Markey.
5:46 PM PT: Looks like the fun part of the night for Gabriel Gomez is about to end: He's now up just 0.6%, or 2,000 votes, with 32% reporting.
5:49 PM PT: And there we go: Markey just retook the lead for the first time since the very first precincts started reporting. He's now up 0.2%.
5:51 PM PT: 43% reporting, Markey +1 now.
5:55 PM PT: The deep blue city of Boston is starting to chime in, putting Markey up 51-48 with 49% reporting.
5:58 PM PT: 56% reporting, Markey +4.
6:04 PM PT: Our model has remained quite stable all night, finding a swing of around or under 7% to Markey from Coakley. Coakley took 47.6% in the 2010 special, so that would give Markey around 54-55% total if things hold.
6:05 PM PT: We're up to 63% and Markey's lead keeps growing. He's now at 53-47.
6:08 PM PT: The liveblog continues here.
