BOSTON — In a stunning upset, Republican Scott Brown, a little-known state senator just weeks ago, on Tuesday trounced Democrat Martha Coakley to win a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat and jolt Washington’s Democratic leaders with a victory that imperils President Barack Obama’s bid to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
Brown, 50, led Coakley, 56, who conceded defeat late Tuesday, by 52 to 47 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting.
With his victory, Brown will take the occupied by Sen. Edward Kennedy for 47 years before his death in August.
“Scott Brown caught the wave,” Massachusetts Democratic consultant Dan Payne said. “People are worried about jobs, angry about Wall Street bonuses, upset about the deals being made for health care legislation, afraid of nuts like the underwear bomber. Nothing seems to be going well except stock prices.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the Brown triumph sent a clear message: “There’s a reason the nation was focused on this race,” he said. “The voters in Massachusetts, like Americans everywhere, have made it abundantly clear where they stand on health care.”
Democrats said they’re well aware of the political danger posed by the prospect of more such victories.
“We’re all pretty unpopular,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “Why? Because people don’t feel good. We’re the leaders and we’re in office, and they expect us to do something about it.”
Brown, expected to be sworn in early next month, will become the 41st Republican senator, a number that’s just enough to allow Republicans to block any legislation indefinitely in the Senate if they stick together. Democrats currently control 60 seats, just enough to defeat delaying tactics.
The House of Representatives passed its version of health care Nov. 7, and the Senate approved its bill Dec. 24. Congressional leaders and Obama have been negotiating privately for the past week, trying to craft a compromise.
A Brown victory would complicate matters, since it would require a 60th Senate vote to be found; one possibility would be Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who voted for the health legislation last fall in the Senate Finance Committee but voted no on final passage.
There are other alternatives. The House could approve the Senate’s bill, clearing it for Obama’s signature, though that could be tough, because the Senate version contains a 40 percent tax on high-end insurance policies that’s highly unpopular with labor unions and a lot of Democratic liberals.
Another option is to delay seating the new senator. State officials have to certify the results, which usually takes at least 10 days, and then it’s up to Senate leaders to decide when to swear in the new member. Hoyer said it was feasible that Congress could send the president a health care bill within the next 15 days.
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