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Coakley, Galvin coast to victory

Print | Comments () Posted by Andrew Ryan, Globe Metro Desk November 3, 2010 12:42 AM

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By Globe Staff

Ten months after she suffered a humiliating defeat to Scott Brown in the battle for Senator Edward M. Kennedy's old seat, Attorney General Martha Coakley was poised to easily win a second term as the state's chief lawyer today in a race against a political newcomer from Millbury.

With 14 percent of precincts reporting, the 57-year-old Democratic attorney general was leading Republican James P. McKenna, a former prosecutor in Suffolk and Worcester counties, 63 percent to 36 percent.

"Sometimes you lose a round and sometimes you lose the whole fight," Coakley said in her victory speech. "But I also know that losing doesn't mean you quit."

McKenna, who now works as a solo practitioner, was only the second candidate since the 1970s to obtain a nomination for statewide office through a write-in campaign.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State William F. Galvin, a Democrat, appeared likely to win a fifth term, as anti-incumbent fever failed to carry to victory either of his two challengers, Republican Woburn town clerk William Campbell, and independent Jim Henderson. Galvin was leading Campbell, 65 percent to 32 percent, with 14 percent of precincts reporting.

Democrats also won two other races for open statewide offices.

In the contest for state auditor, Democrat Suzanne M. Bump, a former state labor secretary and legislator, narrowly defeated Republican Mary Z. Connaughton, a former member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board, for the office that had been held by A. Joseph DeNucci since 1987. Democrats have held the office for almost 50 years.

In the race for state treasurer, Steve Grossman, a Newton businessman long active in the Democratic Party, beat Republican state Representative Karyn E. Polito of Shrewsbury. They were vying for the office that was vacated by Timothy P. Cahill, who ran for governor.