Massachusetts 2012 Election Results LIVE: Exit Polls Show Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown Race is Close

Impact

Update 9:47 ELIZABETH WARREN WINS IN MASSACHUSETTS! SHE BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE SENATOR IN MASSACHUSETTS HISTORY! Say what?

9:40 Another Kennedy will go to Congress. Joe Kennedy, III won the 4th District. The grandson of Robert F. Kennedy will represent the district from Newton to Fall River. 

 

Joe Kennedy, III, right, with Elizabeth Warren and Barney Frank. Courtesy of Elizabeth for MA.

9:17 In Boston, private jets are lining up at Logan to join Romney's celebration downtown. I wish that was a joke. Sarah Silverman was right when she said, "How many billionaires donated to Romney? All of them." With 16% reporting, Elizabeth Warren has a small lead.

9:08 Massachusetts Senate results are not yet in and the presidential remains close in Florida.

9:00 Voters passed medical marijuana and assisted suicide ballot initiatives in Massachusetts. I wonder if the success of the first initiative will lessen the likelihood of people using the second initiative?

8:56 How I feel about polls...I want to suck up all of them...

8:51 With 5% reporting, Elizabeth Warren leads Scott Brown by a few percentage points. 

8:47 It's a little scary that "Where do I vote?" is still trending on Google...Or maybe it's better that those people didn't get to the polls?

8:41 The last time a Senate election in Massachusetts was so contested, it was about which bakery had the best cannoli in Boston...#modernpastry 

8:31 I saw exactly one non-political Facebook status update today. It was about Starbucks.

8:27 The first Democratic Senator from Massachusetts was Robert Rantoul, Jr., elected in 1851. After that, Massachusetts's Senate delegation was mostly Democrats until 1926 and from 1953 on, Scott Brown has been the only Republican Senator.

8:19 Elizabeth Warren is pulling ahead as Massachusetts reports their results. Massachusetts may get their first female Senator. And women may finally get equal pay for equal work. #21stCentury

8:12 Polls are closed in Massachusetts. The Huffington Post reports that Obama has won Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, D.C., and Illinois. Mitt has won Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

8:04 Obama's killing it in Ohio. I guess Ohio is good for something. Just not football. #GoBlue 

8:01 CNN projects Romney will take Oklahoma #shocker.

7:58 The Senate race is too close to call with three minutes left. I'm going to make election night nachos. Elizabeth Warren would say I didn't build them on my own and Scott Brown would pay me $0.66 for every $1 he'd pay a male nacho-maker.

7:32 Polls just closed in North Carolina and polls in Massachusetts close in a half an hour. We will know who our new Senator is in just a few hours.

7:20 Early reporting shows that Romney leads Obama in Florida. I guess millennials didn't make "The Great Shlep" this year. Douche-nozzles. Obama took Florida in 2008, although it's still too early to tell for this year. 

7:15 I won't miss political ads, but I will miss politically-themed cocktails. For those who are watching their waistline, the Obama'rita and Mint Romney are good choices. Of course, the Mint Romney has no alcohol in it...

7:00 p.m. If the 2012 presidential election is a marathon, we probably don't want to go with Paul Ryan. It'll take forever.

6:52 It's so crazy...there's been so little voter fraud but so much voter suppression. I wonder why the Republican Party hasn't focused on it...

6:42 The first exit polls show Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown are neck-and-neck in the race for Massachusetts's Senate seat. 

6:30 Three unconventional "Get Out the Vote" messages..

Courtesy of the "How Do I Put This Gently" tumblr

Courtesy of Will Ferrell:

Courtesy of Sarah Silverman:

6:24 They may hate taxes and love guns, but President Obama leads Romney 65.1% to 35.6% in New Hampshire, although less than 1% of polling places are reporting. 

6:18 p.m. Mitt Romney may have cast a vote for himself in Belmont, Massachusetts, today but it is almost surely canceled out by every other voter in the state. As the local Weekly Dig put it, "We're the most familiar with how Mitt would govern and we'd rather vote for a hobo on bath salts." 

6:13 p.m. The polls close in less than two hours, but an analysis by the Boston Phoenix shows that turnout in  key neighborhoods may bode well for Democrats. In the 2010 special Senate election, old and white voters represented a higher than normal share of total voters. Now, it looks like traditionally Democratic wards of Boston are turning out, as are students.  

6:01 p.m. Boston had high turnout today, although it was lower than in 2008. Long lines and chilly weather may have deterred some voters, according to the Boston Globe. My voting motto (adapted slightly from a cross country teammate) is, "No excuses, vote like a champ!"

5:44 p.m. The Massachusetts election has been the subject of much interest because of a controversial ballot proposal to protect individual rights. The right in question? An individual's right to repair their car. The first ballot proposal before Massachusetts voters concerns a consumer protection initiative that would require auto dealers and repair shops to release non-proprietary repair and safety information to consumers. Weighty stuff. The other ballot proposals have sexier subjects: medical marijuana legalization and the right to assisted suicide. The "right to repair" has already achieved a legislative compromise while polls show strong support for medical marijuana, assisted suicide is a tough sell in the state. 

 

It's finally (almost) over. The political ads and robocalls will cease, Saturday Night Live will have to troll for material elsewhere, and the desperate funding e-mail appeals will go unsent. In Massachusetts, the stakes are high. Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren hopes to unseat incumbent Scott Brown in what has been one of the most competitive Senate races the state has ever seen. The outcome could determine whether the Senate retains a Democratic majority. State voters will also decide whether to legalize medical marijuana. Finally, tomorrow night we will know who will hold the executive office for the next four years. 

The races are close and the candidates are frenetically trying to get out the vote. In less than 24 hours, voting will begin. In terms of the Senate race, the candidates each face special challenges. Massachusetts voters have never elected a female Senator. At the same time, the state is solidly Democratic. Brown has only a tenuous advantage as an incumbent. In polls, Warren has bested him by 4-7 points.

As far as the presidential election, the Bay State has no love for former governor Mitt Romney. Analysts expect the president to easily pick up 11 electoral college votes from Massachusetts.

PolicyMic will be covering the 2012 election from the state of Massachusetts live. For live updates, bookmark and refresh this page.