November 2, 2010
William Keating, flanked by his wife, Tevis, and his daughter, Kristen, delivers his congressional victory speech at the Neighborhood Club in Quincy Tuesday night. The Democrat waged a blistering campaign against Republican Jeffrey Perry of Sandwich.CCT/Christine Hochkeppel
Jeffrey Perry, of Sandwich, sprints to the stage at the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis Tuesday night to thank his supporters in his Republican bid for Congress.
Cape Cod Times/Merrily Cassidy
Today is the day! It has finally arrived. After following the race for the 10th District of Massachusetts closely for the past few months, I was very excited to hear the outcome when the polls closed tonight. Because this is such a tight race, it was really hard to make a prediction this morning which candidate would end up pulling this one off. But in the end, the Democratic candidate Bill Keating ended up being victorious! This race marks who important the constituency influence is in Congress.
The Republican candidate, Jeff Perry, came up short tonight by only 5 percentage points. The race was tight throughout the night and the numbers were slow to come in throughout the district. According to the Cape Cod Times, Keating received 132,582 (47%) while Perry received 119,829 (42%). As far as the three independent candidates, Maryanne Lewis made the biggest impact, receiving 16,673 (6%). James Sheets, who was seen by some as a political move to take votes away from Keating, received 10,438 (4%). He was viewed in this light because he is friends with Republican Ron Kaufman who is a powerful figure that endorsed Perry. Lastly, Joseph van Nes, who was just barely old enough to even run for Congress, received 3,075 (1%).
This race gained national attention because it was the only highly contested race in Massachusetts. It is extremely important to recognize that although Perry did not beat Keating, this race once again shows the political changes in the usually very Democratic state of Massachusetts. Many say the state is shifting towards being a Republican state after years and years of a reputation of being extremely Democratic. In January of 2010, Republican Scott Brown won the late senator Ted Kennedy’s spot (who had held the seat since 1972) and this monumental event marked the change that is occurring throughout this state.
Keating will be taking the place of U.S. Representative William Delahunt who decided to retire after seven terms in the House of Representatives. The results of this race show how important the constituency influence is in Congress and how every single vote has the ability to affect what is happening in Washington. Election Day was particularly important this year due to the closeness of so many races and the opportunity for one party or the other to gain or lose control of the House and the Senate.
It will be interesting to observe what Keating does now that he is elected to Congress. If Massachusetts is truly beginning to lean farther away from the left as evidenced by their election of Scott Brown and the close race between Keating and Perry, will Keating continue to reflect an all-left agenda or align with with more moderate colleagues? Keating is in the position to make a name and reputation for himself, and if the climate of Massachusetts seems to be shifting more towards to center, perhaps it would be wise for Keating to position himself the same way, in order to maintain the best chances of re-election in 2010.
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