A write-in candidate is on her way to filling the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Stan Rosenberg.
That's after Jo Comerford beat two other write-ins, and Chelsea Kline, the only candidate whose name was on the ballot in the Democratic primary.
With not all the results in, Comerford held off until Wednesday to declare victory. She received more than 14,000 votes, and defeated Kline by 13 percentage points.
"I'm incredibly honored to have earned the votes of 14,000 constitutes in the Hampshire-Franklin-Worcester District," Comerford said. "It's a rather jaw-dropping number in terms of a write-in campaign."
Comerford said she thinks several parts of her platform appealed to voters.
"Full funding for our public schools, turning Massachusetts into a zero emissions state, really moving us boldly towards 'Medicare for All,' and dealing with the revenue, revenue equity, tax equity," Comerford said.
And now Comerford will go from being a write-in to being the only name on the ballot in November's general election.
With no other declared candidates, she is likely going to represent this 24-community district on Beacon Hill next year.
In the meantime, she says she plans to reach out to some current state senators, as well as the area's House delegation.
Kline, in a statement, congratulated her opponents, but also went back to the start of her candidacy, when Rosenberg was still in the race.
"We always knew this would be a tough race, with both money and the political establishment against us," Kline said. "Taking on a 27-year incumbent who was still popular with the district, despite major moral failings, may not have been politically expedient, but it was the right thing to do, and I regret none of it. As the race changed, it became clear that our challenge to power would not be forgotten."
Rosenberg, the former Senate President from Amherst, had been caught up in a months-long controversy surrounding his husband Bryon Hefner.
Hefner was charged with sexual assault. And in May, a scathing ethics report said Rosenberg had violated the trust of the Senate by allowing Hefner access to his e-mail and not doing anything to stop the behavior. So Rosenberg resigned just two days after the candidate filing deadline.
That had left Kline as the only candidate on the ballot, but Comerford -- along with local veterans services official Steve Connor and Northampton City Council President Ryan O'Donnell -- emerged as write-ins.
Take a look at NEPR's Massachusetts Primary Election Results 2018.
