Walsh fends off tough challenge
In his bid to unseat state Senator Marian Walsh of West Roxbury, independent challenger Robert W. Joyce figured his opposition to gay marriage would play well in her heavily Catholic district. In the waning hours of the campaign, he left voice mail messages stressing his stance.
It didn't work; Walsh won yesterday with nearly 65 percent of the vote. Savoring her victory last night, Walsh said she believes voters were put off by Joyce's emphasis on same-sex marriage.
"Voters want balanced candidates. They don't want single-issue candidates," she said. "We talked about the economy, jobs, health care, education. I acknowledged straight on that I'm not going to take people's civil rights away, that I'm not going to change the constitution."
Walsh's commanding victory was just one of several election results yesterday that gay-marriage supporters were celebrating. They said they had picked up two votes supporting gay marriage in the Legislature.
"It was a big night for us. We're very, very pleased," said Marty
But gay-marriage opponents also claimed victory last night.
"The incumbents that were on our side on the marriage issue were victorious, even though they were significantly challenged," said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute. "There was a tremendous onslaught against them from the opponents to traditional marriage, and they held their ground."
Representative Philip Travis, Democrat of Rehoboth, who has opposed both gay marriage and civil unions, defeated Steven S. Howitt, a Republican challenger who supported gay marriage, to keep his seat. Republican state Representative Shirley Gomes of South Harwich, who supports civil unions but not gay marriage, defeated Sarah Peake, who was backed by gay-rights groups.
And in a rematch of their special-election battle last March, Wrentham Republican Scott P. Brown, a gay-marriage opponent, narrowly defeated Democrat Angus McQuilken of Millis, a supporter.
In another race framed partly by the issue of same-sex marriage, state Representative Kathleen M. Teahan, a Whitman Democrat, defeated Edward "Ned" Kirby, a Republican who ran because he objected to Teahan's support of gay marriage.
The issue also was at the forefront in a heated battle between Vincent P. Ciampa, a longtime Somerville representative, and Carl M. Sciortino Jr., who is gay. Sciortino, also of Somerville, was outraged that Ciampa had voted to deny him marriage rights, and he narrowly defeated Ciampa in the September Democratic primary. Ciampa mounted a write-in campaign, but it appeared to fall far short last night.
Following a historic Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing gay marriage, the Legislature last spring granted preliminary approval to a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but allow civil unions for same-sex couples.
Globe correspondent Benjamin Gedan contributed to this report. 
