Kennedy special election puts GOP in spotlight

[December 09, 2009]  BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts Republicans are getting back the political spotlight they've lacked for the past three years in the special election to fill Edward Kennedy's Senate seat.

State Sen. Scott Brown beat perennial candidate Jack E. Robinson on Tuesday to win the GOP primary. He'll face off Jan. 19 against Attorney General Martha Coakley, who won a four-way Democratic race.

Brown's challenge is overcoming the Democrats' advantage in a state where the party controls all statewide offices. Republicans haven't had one since former Gov. Mitt Romney completed his term in 2007 and ran unsuccessfully for president.

Coakley says she wants to go to Washington to help President Barack Obama achieve his agenda.

Kennedy died in August at age 77, ending a nearly 47-year political career that saw him become the fourth-longest-serving senator in U.S. history.

[Associated Press; By GLEN JOHNSON]

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