page_title: 2008 United States Senate elections
section_title: Massachusetts
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 United States Senate elections / Massachusetts
caption_attribution_description: Results of the Massachusetts senatorial election, 2008 by municipality. Blue indicates towns that voted for Kerry, red (Boxford, MA) for Beatty.
context_page_description: The 2008 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2008, with 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested. Thirty-three seats were up for regular elections; the winners were eligible to serve six-year terms from January 3, 2009 to January 3, 2015, as members of Class 2. There were also two special elections, the winners of those seats would finish the terms that ended January 3, 2013.
  The presidential election which was won by Democrat Barack Obama, elections for all House of Representatives seats, and several gubernatorial elections, as well as many state and local elections, occurred on the same date.
  Going into these elections, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two Independents who caucused with the Democrats, giving the Democratic caucus the slightest 51-49 majority. Of the seats up for election in 2008, 23 were held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats. The Republicans, who openly conceded early on that they wouldn't be able to regain the majority in 2008, lost eight seats. Democratic candidates defeated Republican incumbents in Alaska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, and after a lengthy recount process, Minnesota.
context_section_description: Incumbent John Kerry sought another Senate term in Massachusetts. Republican author and conservative activist Jerome Corsi, known for his public criticism of Kerry, had stated that he would run for the seat in 2008 but later changed his mind. Jim Ogonowski, a retired Air Force pilot who was closely defeated by now-Representative Niki Tsongas in a 2007 special election, was running against Kerry. but failed to obtain the required candidacy signatures. The Republican challenger turned out to be Jeff Beatty, an ex-Army Delta Force officer who garnered 30% of the vote in a challenge to Democratic Congressman Bill Delahunt in 2006. Kerry was challenged by defense attorney Edward O'Reilly for the Democratic nomination, winning 69% of the vote to O'Reilly's 31%.
  Kerry won with 66% of the vote to Beatty's 31%. Libertarian Robert J. Underwood had 3%.
caption: Results by city and town
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