Rep. Markey Wins Kerry's Senate Seat in MA Special Election

As expected,  Democratic Rep. Ed Markey won the special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday evening to take John Kerry's Senate seat, according to the Associated Press. He beat out Gabriel Gomez, a Republican political newbie and former Navy SEAL. 

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With 82 percent of precincts reporting, Markey, who's served nearly four decades in Congress,  had 54.2 percent of the vote. Gomez had 45.5 percent. The Associated Press called the race for Markey a little over an hour after polls closed in the state. Gomez conceded shortly after. With Markey's win, Democrats will keep their 54-46 majority in the Senate. 

Markey had some high-profile Democrats on the trail for him, including Vice President Joe Biden, who earlier went a bit total political war on the stakes of the special election. 

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While Gomez had an early lead as the votes came in, even Republicans were taking the news cautiously without any city votes in the mix: 

And indeed, once Boston started reporting in, Markey pulled away from Gomez. 

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Gomez as Slate noted, is perpetually cast as the "next Scott Brown," based off the fact that he seemed to be another chances for Republicans to take a congressional seat from the notoriously liberal state. But the party hasn't really known what to do with him: he differs from his peers on many social issues, and doesn't quite seem ready to stick to the party line. On the other hand, from a GOP perspective, snagging Kerry's former seat would have been a pretty sweet talking point. 

RELATED: Gabriel Gomez and the Impossible GOP Embrace

Meanwhile, in an election that more or less seemed to turn out as expected, some were already reading the tea leaves on the 2014 congressional elections.