BOSTON (AP) — Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Edward Markey made appeals to voters Monday in the final hours before Massachusetts’ special election for the U.S. Senate, where turnout is expected to be light, a contrast to the high-profile special election in the state three years ago.
Markey, a longtime congressman who’s leading in polls ahead of the election, planned a get-out-the-vote drive Monday throughout the state, greeting supporters in Springfield and Worcester and participating in a business tour of downtown Lawrence before attending a rally in his hometown of Malden.
Gomez, a businessman and former Navy SEAL who’s a political newcomer, focused his attention on southeastern Massachusetts. He began his day greeting commuters at a Braintree public transit stop before heading to Plymouth, Hyannis and Brockton. Gomez was also scheduled to hold an election eve rally with former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown in Quincy.
Tuesday’s special election is for the seat formerly held by John Kerry, who resigned from the Senate to become U.S. secretary of state.
All indications pointed to what the state’s top elections official termed a “very weak” turnout at the polls, thanks in part to the timing of the election and a lack of deep interest in it.
“There just hasn’t been the intensity in this race,” said Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, who projected that no more than 1.6 million of the state’s 4.3 million registered voters — about 37 percent — would participate in the special election.
By contrast, about 2.25 million voters cast ballots in the 2010 special election to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. Brown, a Republican, won that race.
Historically Low Turnout Expected In June 25, 2013 MA Senate Special Election
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