On Wednesday of last week, the 2013 Special US Senate election in Massachusetts (held on June 25) was certified. The final tally is Democratic candidate Ed Markey with 645,249 (54.8%), Republican Gabriel Gomez 525,307 (44.6%), Twelve Visions Party candidate Richard Heos 4,550 (0.4%) and “All Others” with 2,504 (0.2%). The Atlas entry for this election is located here. At right is a thumbnail of the map by city and town (click for larger image). The total ballots cast in this special election was 1,179,781 – over two million votes less than were cast in the 2012 General Election. Even relative to the 2010 Special Election, the number of ballots cast is only half the 2,253,727 ballots cast on January 19, 2010. The 2013 special election stands out in the low-level of turnout.
Compared with the 2010 Special Election (city and town map shown at right), the 2013 map looks quite similar. Only 36 of 351 cities and towns changed color – 35 Scott Brown municipalities were won by Ed Markey and only one (Monroe) was won by both Martha Coakley in 2010 and Gabriel Gomez in 2013. Three towns that were won by Scott Brown in 2010 were ties in 2013. The switch of these towns, however, only represent a margin change of 34,132 votes. A much larger Democratic swing is present (193,307) in the cities and towns that did not change hands. Detailed town data are posted on the individual contest pages (2010 and 2013).