By Joshua Resnek [email protected], Congressman Mike Capuano carried Chelsea in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate special election, but Attorney General Martha Coakley dominated statewide, securing the party’s nomination by a substantial margin. She will now compete against Republican Senator Scott Brown in the general election. Chelsea saw 1,979 voters participate in the primary—representing 17.64 percent of eligible voters, a notably low turnout for the city though marginally above the statewide average. Capuano tallied 742 votes compared to Coakley’s 649, with Alan Khazei receiving 157 and Steve Pagliuca garnering 196. The ballot included 42 blanks. On the Republican side, Senator Scott Brown collected 161 votes while Jackie Robinson received 25, with three blanks recorded by Chelsea City Clerk Robert Bishop. Statewide, Coakley’s advantage was decisive. She accumulated 310,827 votes—47 percent of all Democratic ballots cast—winning decisively in most areas outside Chelsea, Revere and Boston. Capuano finished second with 184,791 votes or 28 percent. Khazei claimed 88,929 votes or 13 percent, while Pagliuca, the Boston Celtics co-owner, received 80,248 votes or 12 percent of the Democratic total. Should Coakley prevail in January’s general election, she would make history as Massachusetts’s first female U.S. senator.
