Props to Matt Viser and Martin Finucane of the Boston Globe for inserting the following voter reaction (to Martha Coakley winning today’s Democratic primary to replace Edward Kennedy) in their election night coverage.
“She’s got the know-how, and she’s a woman – and we need more women in political offices,” said Coakley voter Djana Marchisio, a 62-year-old model from Cambridge who poses in the nude for artists. “She also had one ad on television talking about getting at the fat cats and people who stole our money. I like that.”
I didn’t have a strong preference in this race. I saw major upsides to Coakley, Capuano, and Khazei, so I kept mum. I’m happy with Coakley. She’ll be the first woman to ever represent Massachusetts in the Senate. Do you know what she’s best known for?
Coakley, 56, of Medford was the only one of the Democratic candidates who had ever run a statewide campaign, winning the attorney general’s office in 2006. Prior to that, she had served as district attorney in Middlesex County, the state’s largest county, for eight years.
Her career received a major boost when, as a Middlesex County prosecutor, she brought the 1997 case against Louise Woodward, a British au pair who was accused of shaking and beating to death a baby who was in her care. The case made headlines internationally.
She faces state Sen. Scott Brown of Wrentham in a January 19th special election. Should be a cakewalk.