High turnout seen in Mass. Senate election My Business Blog

High turnout seen in Mass. Senate election

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Throngs of voters reportedly turned out in Massachusetts on Tuesday in that state’s special election to fill the late Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat, in a closely watched race that has Democrats fearful of losing their 60-vote majority in the upper chamber of Congress.

Scott Brown, a Republican state senator, was leading the Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, in many polls going into the contest — putting at risk the Democrats’ supermajority and with it President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul and other priorities.

Republican Underdog Rises in Mass. Race

The Republican candidate for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat has risen in the polls, by borrowing a page out of the Obama playbook, Doug Luzader reports. Video courtesy of Fox News.

Brown, once a little-known lawmaker, has surprised observers by pulling ahead of Coakley in most polls, turning the election into a nail-biter. Polls close in Massachusetts at 8 p.m. Eastern.

A party needs 60 Senate seats to overcome filibusters and thus easily pass legislation.

As voters cast their ballots, the White House-backed overhaul for health care hung in the balance. Legislation has passed the House and Senate, but a compromise bill has yet to make it through either chamber. Read more MarketWatch coverage on health-care reform.

Aetna and other large insurance company stocks rose along with the broader market on Tuesday as investors weighed the special Senate race. Read more about health-care stocks.

Scenarios

Democrats are vowing to press ahead with the legislation, no matter the outcome of the Massachusetts race. On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters in San Francisco that “there is no ‘back to the drawing board.’” She said there will be a final bill “one way or the other.”

Even if Brown wins, Congress could pass the health-care bill and send it to President Barack Obama. The House could simply approve the language of the bill that was approved 60 to 39 in the Senate, thus negating any need to have another vote in the Senate, where Brown’s vote could be decisive. Many House liberals, however, believe their version of the bill is superior.

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that the Senate’s health-care bill would be better than none at all. “The Senate bill clearly is better than nothing,” he told reporters. “I will make that point.”

Democrats could also attempt to pass the bill through a special process known as reconciliation that prohibits filibusters and only requires but a simple majority in the Senate.

There is even some talk of changing the filibuster rules.

Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley vie for senate seat in Massachusetts.

Both the White House and labor unions poured money and political capital into the race, hoping to buoy Coakley’s chances and hang on to the Democrats’ power in the upper chamber. Obama spoke in support of Coakley on Sunday.

The Service Employees International Union, meanwhile, put 300 volunteers into the field and spent $685,000 on a TV ad attacking Brown, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy comes as Obama marks his first year in office. It also comes as the American public remains skeptical of the president’s proposed health-care overhaul. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 44% of Americans support the proposed changes to the health-care system, but 51% oppose them.

Pollsters believe that Democrats are in danger of losing at least one Senate seat in November’s midterm congressional elections, as well as several more seats in the House.

Voters are now evenly split over which party they hope will run Congress after the November elections, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Tuesday. Read full Wall Street Journal/NBC poll results.

Financial overhaul

A Brown victory could also have an impact on proposed financial legislation. Brown has criticized the Obama administration’s so-called financial-crisis responsibility fee, which would be a charge on big banks with $50 billion or more in capital. The fee, which would need congressional approval, would be used to cover the remaining costs of the $700 billion bank-bailout package as well as help reduce the deficit. Brown argues that the tax would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher fees.

“If Brown wins, we think one of the interpretations will be that opposition to the bank tax is not politically fatal,” said Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Brian Gardner. “If Coakley wins, then we think that the bank tax will be seen as politically popular.”

AM Report: Mass. Senate Seat in Limbo

The Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy is up for grabs, with the Democratic nominee losing ground to the Republican contender, the News Hub reports.

A Brown win could also put additional pressure on Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to compromise with Republicans and produce a bipartisan piece of legislation.

Dodd is working with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the panel’s ranking member, to release bipartisan legislation on bank reform. The two senators are debating whether to include an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee mortgage and credit-card products.

Dodd would like to create such an agency, but he may be open to a compromise on it.

MarketWatch’s Ronald D. Orol contributed to this report.

Robert Schroeder is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

RSS for Comments

RSS for Entries

My Business BlogThe leading business search engine and business directory