BOSTON (AP) — Longtime Democratic Rep. Edward Markey has won a special election in Massachusetts to succeed John Kerry in the U.S. Senate.
The 66-year-old Markey on Tuesday beat Republican challenger Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL and political newcomer.
The race did not draw the deep interest of the 2010 special election between Republican former Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley. Brown pulled out a surprise victory that year, though he lost the seat to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in November.
Markey vowed to avoid a repeat, bringing in President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton to campaign with him.
Gomez is a 47-year-old businessman. He was never able to raise the money he needed to beat Markey.
Kerry left the Senate to become U.S. secretary of state.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
