>>the Bay State hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since the Eisenhower administration.
Eisenhower was President in 1966? 1972? Again we forget that Edward Brooke was Senator from early 1967 till early 1979. He was liberal on some issues but he was a Republican.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Brooke
>>Edward William Brooke, III (born October 26, 1919), is an American politician and was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate when he was elected as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 58%–42%. He was also the first African American elected to the Senate since the 19th century, and would remain the only person of African heritage sent to the Senate in the 20th century until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun in 1993. He remains, as of 2009, the last Republican senator from Massachusetts, and the last elected African American member of the U.S. Senate to come from the Republican Party.
MA Senators
1)
1960—Ben Smith placeholder, D
1962—Ted Kennedy D SPECIAL ELECTION (Ted turned 30)
1964—Ted Kennedy D
1970—Ted Kennedy D
1976—Ted Kennedy D
1982—Ted Kennedy D
1988—Ted Kennedy D
1994—Ted Kennedy D (vs. Mitt Romney)
2000—Ted Kennedy D
2006—Ted Kennedy D
Ted died in ‘09, Paul Kirk temp. appointment D
today we hope to elect Scott Brown
2)
1945—Leverett Saltonstall wins special election —R
1966/67 Ed Brooke R
1972 Ed Brooke R
1978 (Brooke beaten by) Paul Tsongas D
1984 John Kerry D(Tsongas retired due to non Hodgkins lymphoma)
1990 John Kerry D
1996 John Kerry D(faced Bill Weld)
2002 John Kerry D
2008 John Kerry D