2013 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
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Markey: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Gomez: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Tie: 40–50% 50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Massachusetts |
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| Massachusetts portal |
The 2013 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was held on June 25, 2013, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class 2 United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2015.
The vacancy that prompted the special election was created by the resignation of Senator John Kerry, in order to become U.S. Secretary of State. On January 30, 2013, Governor Deval Patrick chose his former chief of staff, Mo Cowan, to serve as interim U.S. Senator. Cowan declined to participate in the election. A party primary election was held on April 30, to determinate the nominees of each party for the general election. The Massachusetts Democrats nominated U.S. Representative Ed Markey, while the Massachusetts Republicans nominated Gabriel E. Gomez, a businessman and former Navy SEAL.
The race drew remarks from the media, because of its potential similarity to the 2010 special election, when Republican state senator Scott Brown upset the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. However, Gomez trailed Markey in every opinion poll taken, and Markey defeated him by 120,122 votes, despite low turnout.