2014 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

The 2014 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, concurrently with the election of the Governor of Massachusetts, other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

2014 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

← 2013 (special) November 4, 2014 2020 →

Nominee Ed Markey Brian Herr Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,289,944 791,950 Percentage 61.87% 37.98%

County results Municipality results Precinct results Markey:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Herr:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Tie:      40–50%

U.S. senator before election Ed Markey Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Ed Markey Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Senator Ed Markey ran for re-election to a first full term in office.^[1] Primary elections were held on September 9, 2014. Markey was unopposed for the Democratic nomination; Hopkinton Selectman Brian Herr was also unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Background

Incumbent Democratic Senator John Kerry, serving since 1985, had planned to run for re-election to a sixth term, but on December 15, 2012, it was announced that the long-time Massachusetts senator and 2004 presidential nominee would be nominated as United States Secretary of State under President Barack Obama. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed Mo Cowan as a temporary replacement for Kerry, after he was confirmed as secretary of state and therefore resigned his senate seat. There was a special election on June 25, 2013, to finish the term, which was won by Ed Markey, the 37-year Democratic incumbent from Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Ed Markey, incumbent U.S. Senator^[1]

Withdrew

• John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator^[2][3]

Declined

• Mo Cowan, former U.S. Senator^[4]

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Brian Herr, Hopkinton Selectman^[5][6]

Did not qualify

• Frank Addivinola, attorney, candidate for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district in 2012 and 2013^[7][8]
• J. Mark Inman, contestant on The X Factor in 2011^[8][9][10]

Declined

• Keith Ablow, psychiatrist and Fox News contributor^[11]
• Charlie Baker, former state cabinet secretary and nominee for governor in 2010 (ran for governor)^[12]
• Scott Brown, former U.S. Senator (ran for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire)^[13]
• Gabriel E. Gomez, businessman, former Navy SEAL and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2013^[14]
• Richard Tisei, former State Senate Minority Leader, nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010 and nominee for MA-06 in 2012 (ran for Congress)^[15]
• William Weld, former governor of Massachusetts and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1996^[15]
• Daniel Winslow, former state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2013^[16]

Independent

Candidates

Withdrew

• Bruce Skarin, government research scientist^[9][17]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[18]	Solid D	November 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[19]	Safe D	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report[20]	Safe D	November 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics[21]	Safe D	November 3, 2014

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Brian Herr (R)	Other	Undecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[22]	July 5–24, 2014	1,846	± 4.9%	61%	34%	2%	3%
Boston Globe[23]	September 14–16, 2014	407	± 4.85%	53%	27%	—	21%
Rasmussen Reports[24]	September 16–17, 2014	750	± 4%	49%	31%	5%	15%
WBUR/MassINC[25]	September 16–21, 2014	502	± 4.4%	58%	30%	1%	11%
WNEU[26]	September 20–28, 2014	416 LV	± 5%	56%	34%	—	10%
		536 RV	± 4%	52%	34%	—	14%
Suffolk University[27]	September 25–28, 2014	500	± 4.4%	54%	30%	—	16%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[28]	September 20 – October 1, 2014	2,389	± 2%	54%	31%	1%	14%
WBUR/MassINC[29]	October 1–4, 2014	504	± 4.4%	56%	30%	1%	13%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[28]	October 16–23, 2014	2,218	± 3%	54%	32%	0%	14%
WBUR/MassINC[30]	October 22–25, 2014	494	± 4.4%	57%	32%	1%	9%
Umass Amherst[31]	October 20–27, 2014	591 LV	± 4.4%	53%	37%	—	9%
		800 RV	± 3.8%	52%	32%	—	15%
Suffolk University[32]	October 27–29, 2014	500	± 4.4%	49%	34%	—	17%
WNEU[33]	October 21–30, 2014	430 LV	± 5%	54%	34%	—	12%
		522 RV	± 4%	53%	31%	—	17%
Public Policy Polling[34]	October 30 – November 2, 2014	887	± 3.3%	52%	38%	—	10%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Frank Addivinola (R)	Other	Undecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[22]	July 5–24, 2014	1,901	± 4.9%	59%	34%	2%	5%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[28]	August 18 – September 2, 2014	3,361	± 2%	53%	28%	2%	17%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Scott Brown (R)	Other	Undecided
MassInc[35]	July 17–20, 2013	500	± 4.4%	43%	38%	2%	17%
Public Policy Polling[36]	September 20–23, 2013	616	± 4%	46%	45%	—	9%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Gabriel Gomez (R)	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[36]	September 20–23, 2013	616	± 4%	53%	35%	—	12%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Richard Tisei (R)	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[36]	September 20–23, 2013	616	± 4%	54%	27%	—	19%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Bill Weld (R)	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[36]	September 20–23, 2013	616	± 4%	47%	41%	—	11%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Markey (D)	Generic Republican	Other	Undecided
WBUR/MassINC[37]	March 14–16, 2014	500	± 4.4%	50%	29%	—	21%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Kerry (D)	Generic Republican	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[38]	September 13–16, 2012	1,051	± 3.3%	54%	33%	—	13%
Public Policy Polling[39]	October 9–11, 2012	1,051	± 3.0%	53%	32%	—	15%
Public Policy Polling[40]	November 1–2, 2012	1,089	± 3.0%	54%	30%	—	15%

Hypothetical polling

With Markey

With Kerry

Results

United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2014^[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ed Markey (incumbent)	1,289,944	61.87%	+7.07%
	Republican	Brian Herr	791,950	37.98%	−6.62%
	Write-in		3,078	0.15%	-0.06%
Total votes			2,084,972	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Barnstable (largest municipality: Barnstable)
• Bristol (largest municipality: New Bedford)
• Hampden (largest municipality: Springfield)
• Plymouth (largest municipality: Brockton)
• Worcester (largest municipality: Worcester)

By congressional district

Markey won all 9 congressional districts.^[42]

District	Herr	Markey	Representative
1st	37.63%	62.37%	Richard Neal
2nd	41.99%	58.01%	Jim McGovern
3rd	42.04%	57.96%	Niki Tsongas
4th	41.38%	58.62%	Joe Kennedy III
5th	30.65%	69.35%	Katherine Clark
6th	42.06%	57.94%	John F. Tierney
7th	15.62%	84.38%	Michael Capuano
8th	39.06%	60.96%	Stephen Lynch
9th	44.54%	55.46%	Bill Keating

See also

• 2013 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
• 2014 United States Senate elections
• 2014 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
• 2014 United States elections

References

1. Hillary Chabot (June 26, 2013). "For Ed Markey, race is just beginning". Boston Herald. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
2. Dave Wedge (February 21, 2009). "John Kerry sets sights on 2014". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
3. "Sen. John Kerry plans re-election run for 2014, calls secretary of state ambitions 'rumors'". Washington Post. August 4, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2011.^{[dead link‍]}
4. Schoenberg, Shira (May 10, 2013). "After leaving U.S. Senate, Mo Cowan will not run for office". The Republican. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
5. "GOP's Herr to challenge Markey in Senate race". abc 6. January 29, 2014. Archived from the original on January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
6. Miller, Joshua (January 29, 2014). "Hopkinton Republican launches bid for US Senate". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
7. Schoenberg, Shira (February 18, 2014). "Republican Frank Addivinola launches campaign for U.S. Senate seat held by Ed Markey". masslive.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
8. "2014 Republican Primary Candidates". Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
9. Sutner, Shaun (February 14, 2014). "Senate candidate Skarin wants to win $15 by $15". Worcester Telegram. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
10. Arthur Christopher Schaper (February 21, 2014). "Arthur Schaper: Mark Inman for US Senate (Really?!)". GoLocalWorcester.com. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
11. Cerullo, Mac (January 12, 2013). "Ablow vows truth in possible Senate run". Newburyport News. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
12. Phillips, Frank; O'Sullivan, Jim (September 3, 2013). "Republican Charles Baker to announce Mass. gubernatorial bid Wednesday". Boston Globe. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
13. Trygstad, Kyle (December 19, 2013). "Scott Brown: New Hampshire Move is 'Strictly Personal'". Roll Call. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
14. Miller, Joshua (January 9, 2014). "Gomez will not run for office in 2014". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
15. LeBlanc, Steve (November 11, 2012). "Eyes Turn To Future Of Mass. Governor and U.S. Senate Races". CBS Boston. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
16. Schoenberg, Shira (September 16, 2013). "State Rep. Dan Winslow resigns from House, rejoins private sector". The Republican. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
17. Rizzuto, Robert (July 30, 2014). "Independent US Senate hopeful Bruce Skarin ends campaign to challenge Sen. Ed Markey". MassLive. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
18. "2014 Senate Race Ratings for November 3, 2014". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
19. "The Crystal Ball's Final 2014 Picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
20. "2014 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
21. "2014 Elections Map - Battle for the Senate 2014". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
22. CBS News/NYT/YouGov Archived 2014-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
23. Boston Globe
24. Rasmussen Reports
25. WBUR/MassINC
26. WNEU
27. Suffolk University
28. CBS News/NYT/YouGov
29. WBUR/MassINC
30. WBUR/MassINC
31. Umass Amherst
32. Suffolk University
33. WNEU
34. Public Policy Polling
35. MassInc
36. Public Policy Polling
37. WBUR/MassINC
38. Public Policy Polling
39. Public Policy Polling
40. Public Policy Polling
41. "PD43+ >> 2014 U.S. Senate General Election". Massachusetts Elections Division. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
42. "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

External links

• U.S. Senate elections in Massachusetts, 2014 at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Ed Markey for U.S. Senate
• Frank Addivinola for U.S. Senate
• Brian Herr for U.S. Senate
• Bruce Skarin for U.S. Senate